UK 'Losing Authority' On Global Warming As Emissions Rise

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UK 'losing authority' on global warming as emissions rise

David Adam, environment correspondent
Thursday November 10, 2005
The Guardian


The UK risks losing its international authority on climate change because of its failure to cut greenhouse gas pollution, according to a leading scientist.

Bob May, president of the Royal Society, said new figures showing that UK emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases which contribute to global warming have risen for the last two years, made it difficult for British politicians to be taken seriously on the issue.

He said: "It is very difficult to criticise other countries such as the United States if we are unable to meet our commitments. Indeed, emissions by the United States have actually declined over the last two years, although they are still some 20% above 1990 levels."

Lord May also responded to Tony Blair's apparent shift away from a target-based approach to tackling climate change, saying that politicians needed "courage" to address the problem. In a speech to energy and environment ministers last week, the prime minister said: "The blunt truth about the politics of climate change is that no country will want to sacrifice its economy in order to meet this challenge, but all economies know that the only sensible long term way of developing is to do it on a sustainable basis." Lord May said: "The blunt truth about the politics of climate change is that countries are not doing enough to adapt their economies so that they reduce their greenhouse gas emissions."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,12374,1639006,00.html