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How America Plotted to Stop Kyoto Deal
Large companies got us into the Global Warming, Climate Change mess and for ExxonMobil attempt to destroy Kyoto. We the people of the World need to send them our message Boycott their products and send them a message through their profits.
How America Plotted to Stop Kyoto Deal
By Andrew Buncombe
The Independent UK
Thursday 08 December 2005
Montreal - A detailed and disturbing strategy document has revealed an extraordinary American plan to destroy Europe's support for the Kyoto treaty on climate change.
The ambitious, behind-the-scenes plan was passed to The Independent this week, just as 189 countries are painfully trying to agree the second stage of Kyoto at the UN climate conference in Montreal. It was pitched to companies such as Ford Europe, Lufthansa and the German utility giant RWE.
Put together by a lobbyist who is a senior official at a group partly funded by ExxonMobil, the world's biggest oil company and a fierce opponent of anti-global warming measures, the plan seeks to draw together major international companies, academics, think-tanks, commentators, journalists and lobbyists from across Europe into a powerful grouping to destroy further EU support for the treaty.
It details just how the so-called "European Sound Climate Policy Coalition" would work. Based in Brussels, the plan would have anti-Kyoto position papers, expert spokesmen, detailed advice and networking instantly available to any politician or company who wanted to question the wisdom of proceeding with Kyoto and its demanding cuts in carbon dioxide emissions.
It has been drawn up by Chris Horner, a senior official with the Washington-based Competitive Enterprise Institute and a veteran campaigner against Kyoto and against the evidence of climate change. One of his colleagues - who describes himself as an adviser to President George Bush - was the subject of a censure motion by the Commons last year after he attacked the Government's chief scientist.
Mr. Horner, whose CEI group has received almost $1.5m (£865,000) from ExxonMobil, is convinced that Europe could be successfully influenced by such a policy coalition just as the US government has been.
He thinks Europe's weakening economies are likely to be increasingly ill at ease with the costs of meeting Kyoto. And in particular, he has spotted something he thinks most of Europe has not yet woken up to. Most of the original 15 EU Kyoto signatories - Britain is an exception - are on course to miss their 2010 CO2 reduction targets. But under the terms of the treaty, they will face large fines for doing so, in terms of much bigger reduction targets in any second phase.
These will prove unacceptably costly to their economies, Mr. Horner believes, even if they try to buy their way out by buying up "spare" emissions for cash from countries such as Russia. Mr. Horner believes the moment for his coalition is at hand and has been seeking support for it from multinational companies. In his pitch to one major company, he wrote: " In the US an informal coalition has helped successfully to avert adoption of a Kyoto-style programme by maintaining a rational voice for civil society and ensuring a legitimate debate over climate economics, science and politics. This model should be emulated ... to guide similar efforts in Europe."
Elsewhere he claimed: "A coalition addressing the economic and social impacts of the EU climate agenda must be broad-based (cross industry) and rooted in the member states. Other companies (including Lufthansa, Exxon, Ford) have already indicated their interest!"
Last night green groups hit out. Kert Davies, Greenpeace's climate campaign coordinator, which initially obtained the documents, said: "These are the hitmen for the Bush administration and the likes of Exxon. They are behind the scenes doing the dirty work. They are extending efforts to Europe where they are trying to undermine the momentum to solve global warming."
While there is nothing illegal about the lobbying, the documents reveal a rare insight into the well-funded efforts within the US to influence opinion at senior levels of European corporations. Campaigners say the campaign is similar to a notorious lobbying effort carried out during the 1990s to undermine support for Kyoto within the US.
The revelation comes as international negotiators in Montreal are discussing the next step within Kyoto and the possibility of introducing new emissions targets. The Bush administration - which has rejected the treaty - has insisted it will not agree to any measures that legally bind it to reduce emissions. Mr. Horner has been present this week in Montreal.
When contacted by The Independent, Mr. Horner confirmed the strategy document was the draft of a presentation he sent to RWE. He defended his lobbying effort saying "that is what I do". He said he simply promoted a point of view, as did Greenpeace. "I don't begrudge them what they do [but] they begrudge me what I do," he said.
Asked if he thought it was appropriate for a major American oil company to be funding a lobbyist targeting European companies, he replied: " Everybody else does." But Mr. Horner, who is also a senior figure within the Cool Heads Coalition, a group that questions the evidence of global warming and opposes any policies to "ration" energy, claimed his efforts to influence opinion in Europe had been unsuccessful. He said RWE had not taken up the suggestions contained within his presentation, and that other companies had also rejected his ideas.
"I don't know why it's surprising [I have lobbied European companies]," he said. "What is surprising to me is why it's not working." Ford and RWE confirmed that they and other companies had met Mr. Horner and other advocates in Brussels last February. He had not been paid any fee nor had they contributed to his expenses. Mr. Horner apparently travelled to Europe at the request of the European Enterprise Industry, a fledgling group hoping to emulate the CEI.
Bill McAndrews, a spokesman for RWE, said: "He met with [us and] other German companies in Brussels. Brussels is the EU capital, there are a lot of people who come to meet. We have not approached him since then." He added: "RWE talks to all sorts of people. We talk with Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund. We discuss matters with all opinions. It's important to hear everybody's side on such a global issue. It does not mean that RWE shares that opinion."
In a statement, ExxonMobil, said: "The notion adopted by some groups ... that only their views and only their funding and lobbying are acceptable is, in our opinion, not helpful to the debates vital to developing good public policy."
Adrian Schmitt, a spokesman for Ford Europe, said Mr. Horner had met with company representatives on one occasion "at a Brussels level". He insisted that Ford had not supported Mr. Horner's opinions. "Exactly the opposite. Our position is that climate change is a serious issue and appropriate steps need to be taken now."
He said that the company had been one of the first companies to withdraw its support for the Global Climate Coalition - a now-defunct lobbying effort that worked to oppose US reductions in greenhouse gas emissions during the late Nineties.
By Andrew Buncombe
The Independent UK
Thursday 08 December 2005
Montreal - A detailed and disturbing strategy document has revealed an extraordinary American plan to destroy Europe's support for the Kyoto treaty on climate change.
The ambitious, behind-the-scenes plan was passed to The Independent this week, just as 189 countries are painfully trying to agree the second stage of Kyoto at the UN climate conference in Montreal. It was pitched to companies such as Ford Europe, Lufthansa and the German utility giant RWE.
Put together by a lobbyist who is a senior official at a group partly funded by ExxonMobil, the world's biggest oil company and a fierce opponent of anti-global warming measures, the plan seeks to draw together major international companies, academics, think-tanks, commentators, journalists and lobbyists from across Europe into a powerful grouping to destroy further EU support for the treaty.
It details just how the so-called "European Sound Climate Policy Coalition" would work. Based in Brussels, the plan would have anti-Kyoto position papers, expert spokesmen, detailed advice and networking instantly available to any politician or company who wanted to question the wisdom of proceeding with Kyoto and its demanding cuts in carbon dioxide emissions.
It has been drawn up by Chris Horner, a senior official with the Washington-based Competitive Enterprise Institute and a veteran campaigner against Kyoto and against the evidence of climate change. One of his colleagues - who describes himself as an adviser to President George Bush - was the subject of a censure motion by the Commons last year after he attacked the Government's chief scientist.
Mr. Horner, whose CEI group has received almost $1.5m (£865,000) from ExxonMobil, is convinced that Europe could be successfully influenced by such a policy coalition just as the US government has been.
He thinks Europe's weakening economies are likely to be increasingly ill at ease with the costs of meeting Kyoto. And in particular, he has spotted something he thinks most of Europe has not yet woken up to. Most of the original 15 EU Kyoto signatories - Britain is an exception - are on course to miss their 2010 CO2 reduction targets. But under the terms of the treaty, they will face large fines for doing so, in terms of much bigger reduction targets in any second phase.
These will prove unacceptably costly to their economies, Mr. Horner believes, even if they try to buy their way out by buying up "spare" emissions for cash from countries such as Russia. Mr. Horner believes the moment for his coalition is at hand and has been seeking support for it from multinational companies. In his pitch to one major company, he wrote: " In the US an informal coalition has helped successfully to avert adoption of a Kyoto-style programme by maintaining a rational voice for civil society and ensuring a legitimate debate over climate economics, science and politics. This model should be emulated ... to guide similar efforts in Europe."
Elsewhere he claimed: "A coalition addressing the economic and social impacts of the EU climate agenda must be broad-based (cross industry) and rooted in the member states. Other companies (including Lufthansa, Exxon, Ford) have already indicated their interest!"
Last night green groups hit out. Kert Davies, Greenpeace's climate campaign coordinator, which initially obtained the documents, said: "These are the hitmen for the Bush administration and the likes of Exxon. They are behind the scenes doing the dirty work. They are extending efforts to Europe where they are trying to undermine the momentum to solve global warming."
While there is nothing illegal about the lobbying, the documents reveal a rare insight into the well-funded efforts within the US to influence opinion at senior levels of European corporations. Campaigners say the campaign is similar to a notorious lobbying effort carried out during the 1990s to undermine support for Kyoto within the US.
The revelation comes as international negotiators in Montreal are discussing the next step within Kyoto and the possibility of introducing new emissions targets. The Bush administration - which has rejected the treaty - has insisted it will not agree to any measures that legally bind it to reduce emissions. Mr. Horner has been present this week in Montreal.
When contacted by The Independent, Mr. Horner confirmed the strategy document was the draft of a presentation he sent to RWE. He defended his lobbying effort saying "that is what I do". He said he simply promoted a point of view, as did Greenpeace. "I don't begrudge them what they do [but] they begrudge me what I do," he said.
Asked if he thought it was appropriate for a major American oil company to be funding a lobbyist targeting European companies, he replied: " Everybody else does." But Mr. Horner, who is also a senior figure within the Cool Heads Coalition, a group that questions the evidence of global warming and opposes any policies to "ration" energy, claimed his efforts to influence opinion in Europe had been unsuccessful. He said RWE had not taken up the suggestions contained within his presentation, and that other companies had also rejected his ideas.
"I don't know why it's surprising [I have lobbied European companies]," he said. "What is surprising to me is why it's not working." Ford and RWE confirmed that they and other companies had met Mr. Horner and other advocates in Brussels last February. He had not been paid any fee nor had they contributed to his expenses. Mr. Horner apparently travelled to Europe at the request of the European Enterprise Industry, a fledgling group hoping to emulate the CEI.
Bill McAndrews, a spokesman for RWE, said: "He met with [us and] other German companies in Brussels. Brussels is the EU capital, there are a lot of people who come to meet. We have not approached him since then." He added: "RWE talks to all sorts of people. We talk with Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund. We discuss matters with all opinions. It's important to hear everybody's side on such a global issue. It does not mean that RWE shares that opinion."
In a statement, ExxonMobil, said: "The notion adopted by some groups ... that only their views and only their funding and lobbying are acceptable is, in our opinion, not helpful to the debates vital to developing good public policy."
Adrian Schmitt, a spokesman for Ford Europe, said Mr. Horner had met with company representatives on one occasion "at a Brussels level". He insisted that Ford had not supported Mr. Horner's opinions. "Exactly the opposite. Our position is that climate change is a serious issue and appropriate steps need to be taken now."
He said that the company had been one of the first companies to withdraw its support for the Global Climate Coalition - a now-defunct lobbying effort that worked to oppose US reductions in greenhouse gas emissions during the late Nineties.
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We need to send a concise clear message you are not going to destroy us through manipulations which result in Global Warming and Climate Change. We will protest, boycott and destroy your profits, it is our World not yours, it belongs to all of us. We have economic power when we are joined together remember the Civil Rights Movement and their boycott it worked, remember Cesar Chavez and what it did for his people. Boycott Exxon/Mobil it is our turn to send messages. Remember the People of New Orleans.
Others press on with post-Kyoto deal
David Adam in Montreal
Saturday December 10, 2005
The Guardian
The US administration was facing condemnation last night after it refused to sign up to a UN statement intended to reopen worldwide talks on how to tackle climate change.
The American move, at a high-level summit in Montreal, after two weeks of talks appeared to renege on a commitment made at the Gleneagles G8 summit, and promised embarrassment for Tony Blair, who has spent 18 months trying to woo George Bush back into the debate on global warming.
Article continues
Undeterred, more than 150 other countries were poised last night to take the Kyoto protocol into a second phase, extending the international agreement to cut emissions of greenhouse gases when its first phase expires in 2012.
Washington, which has refused to sign up to Kyoto, signalled that it did not want to be drawn into broader negotiations on climate change when, after days of tension, Harlan Watson, the chief US negotiator, walked out of talks early on Friday.
He objected to a formulation in the UN statement that suggested dialogue on climate change with no binding commitments which he said would be tantamount to opening fresh negotiations. According to one minister present, Mr Watson walked out after telling the meeting of ministers: "If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and walks like a duck then it's a duck."
Margaret Beckett, the environment secretary, said: "President Bush personally agreed at Gleneagles that the Americans would be part of discussions here. It would be a great pity if the US thought for whatever reason that it could not be part of a move forward."
One EU insider said moves were afoot in the US camp to redraft the UN statement, but said the changes were "trivial" in nature.
America's isolated stance on climate change drew thinly-veiled criticism from former president Bill Clinton, who dismissed as "flat wrong" Mr Bush's argument that Kyoto would damage the US economy.
More
http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,12374,1664259,00.html
add your comments
US walks out of climate change talks as 150 nations move forward to adopt Kyoto
by UK Independent (reposted) Friday, Dec. 09, 2005 at 10:08 PM
The Bush administration's unwillingness to seriously confront global warming was increasingly at odds with the rest of the world last night as more than 150 other nations were poised to move forward with the Kyoto protocol.
The US faced widespread condemnation after persistently rejecting even the mildest commitment to deal with climate change at the UN talks in Montreal.
Washington's behaviour represents a serious embarrassment to Tony Blair who has argued that he could obtain an undertaking from the US to tackle the issue.
As the US position was highlighted by the walking out of talks by its chief negotiator Harlan Watson, the former president Bill Clinton launched an attack on his successor's environmental policy.
To thunderous applause from delegates from nations around the world who are readying themselves to move ahead with the next stage of the Kyoto Protocol, Mr Clinton said the environmental policy of George Bush's administration was "flat wrong".
Rubbishing the US administration's claim that signing up to Kyoto would damage the American economy, Mr Clinton, who was invited to the summit by the Montreal authorities, urged nations to take up the challenge of Kyoto.
"We will have a meeting like this in 40 years time on a raft somewhere unless we do something," he said, adding that scientific evidence is amassing that proves "if we had a serious, disciplined effort" to apply existing conservation technologies then "we could meet and surpass the Kyoto targets easily in a way that would strengthen, not weaken, our economies".
Last night, details on how to progress when the first stage of the protocol ends in 2012 were being finalised by ministers.
Campaigners hailed the apparent progress on Kyoto (albeit without the US) as a vital step forward in the effort to deal with climate change and said it showed the willingness of more than 150 nations to commit themselves to the process. Of those nations, 36 are legally bound to cut their emissions of greenhouse gases.
Read More
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article332206.ece
David Adam in Montreal
Saturday December 10, 2005
The Guardian
The US administration was facing condemnation last night after it refused to sign up to a UN statement intended to reopen worldwide talks on how to tackle climate change.
The American move, at a high-level summit in Montreal, after two weeks of talks appeared to renege on a commitment made at the Gleneagles G8 summit, and promised embarrassment for Tony Blair, who has spent 18 months trying to woo George Bush back into the debate on global warming.
Article continues
Undeterred, more than 150 other countries were poised last night to take the Kyoto protocol into a second phase, extending the international agreement to cut emissions of greenhouse gases when its first phase expires in 2012.
Washington, which has refused to sign up to Kyoto, signalled that it did not want to be drawn into broader negotiations on climate change when, after days of tension, Harlan Watson, the chief US negotiator, walked out of talks early on Friday.
He objected to a formulation in the UN statement that suggested dialogue on climate change with no binding commitments which he said would be tantamount to opening fresh negotiations. According to one minister present, Mr Watson walked out after telling the meeting of ministers: "If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and walks like a duck then it's a duck."
Margaret Beckett, the environment secretary, said: "President Bush personally agreed at Gleneagles that the Americans would be part of discussions here. It would be a great pity if the US thought for whatever reason that it could not be part of a move forward."
One EU insider said moves were afoot in the US camp to redraft the UN statement, but said the changes were "trivial" in nature.
America's isolated stance on climate change drew thinly-veiled criticism from former president Bill Clinton, who dismissed as "flat wrong" Mr Bush's argument that Kyoto would damage the US economy.
More
http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,12374,1664259,00.html
add your comments
US walks out of climate change talks as 150 nations move forward to adopt Kyoto
by UK Independent (reposted) Friday, Dec. 09, 2005 at 10:08 PM
The Bush administration's unwillingness to seriously confront global warming was increasingly at odds with the rest of the world last night as more than 150 other nations were poised to move forward with the Kyoto protocol.
The US faced widespread condemnation after persistently rejecting even the mildest commitment to deal with climate change at the UN talks in Montreal.
Washington's behaviour represents a serious embarrassment to Tony Blair who has argued that he could obtain an undertaking from the US to tackle the issue.
As the US position was highlighted by the walking out of talks by its chief negotiator Harlan Watson, the former president Bill Clinton launched an attack on his successor's environmental policy.
To thunderous applause from delegates from nations around the world who are readying themselves to move ahead with the next stage of the Kyoto Protocol, Mr Clinton said the environmental policy of George Bush's administration was "flat wrong".
Rubbishing the US administration's claim that signing up to Kyoto would damage the American economy, Mr Clinton, who was invited to the summit by the Montreal authorities, urged nations to take up the challenge of Kyoto.
"We will have a meeting like this in 40 years time on a raft somewhere unless we do something," he said, adding that scientific evidence is amassing that proves "if we had a serious, disciplined effort" to apply existing conservation technologies then "we could meet and surpass the Kyoto targets easily in a way that would strengthen, not weaken, our economies".
Last night, details on how to progress when the first stage of the protocol ends in 2012 were being finalised by ministers.
Campaigners hailed the apparent progress on Kyoto (albeit without the US) as a vital step forward in the effort to deal with climate change and said it showed the willingness of more than 150 nations to commit themselves to the process. Of those nations, 36 are legally bound to cut their emissions of greenhouse gases.
Read More
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article332206.ece
Humiliation for Bush as last-minute twist means an isolated US is forced to sign up for future talks on global warming
The fight against catastrophic global warming scored its greatest success to date yesterday, when negotiators from more than 180 nations unexpectedly agreed to develop far-reaching measures to combat climate change.
In the process, the delegates to the climate summit in Montreal dealt a humiliating blow to President George Bush's five-year attempt to destroy the Kyoto Protocol. The United States, which tried to sabotage the meeting at the last minute by walking out of the negotiations, was forced to join the agreement after failing to persuade a single nation to join it.
Many delegates - including Margaret Beckett, the UK's Secretary of State for the Environment - were openly in tears when agreement was finally reached yesterday morning after two successive all-night sessions and as many dramas and cliff-hangers as a second-rate soap opera.
Mrs Beckett told The Independent on Sunday that it represented an even greater breakthrough than the original agreement of the Kyoto Protocol almost exactly eight years ago. Environmentalists hailed the agreement - which exceeded the most optimistic expectations - as "historic".
The agreement marks the culmination of a remarkable year for the world's attempts to bring global warming under control before it is too late. Not much more than a year ago, the Kyoto Protocol had yet to come into force, many leading commentators were writing its obituary, and the US administration was blocking any attempts even to talk about future negotiations.
Then Russia - the key hold-out - ratified the protocol, enabling it to come into force in February, and Tony Blair made climate change one of the top priorities of Britain's presidencies of the EU and the G8 group of industrialised nations this year. At the G8 Gleneagles summit this summer President Bush had to agree to further talks.
Yesterday's agreement - far from burying the Kyoto Protocol as the US wanted - has confirmed it and extended it. The 39 nations governed by it - all the industrialised countries apart from the US and Australia - have agreed in principle to make deeper cuts in the pollution emissions causing climate change when their present clean-up commitments run out in 2012.
Read More
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article332384.ece
The fight against catastrophic global warming scored its greatest success to date yesterday, when negotiators from more than 180 nations unexpectedly agreed to develop far-reaching measures to combat climate change.
In the process, the delegates to the climate summit in Montreal dealt a humiliating blow to President George Bush's five-year attempt to destroy the Kyoto Protocol. The United States, which tried to sabotage the meeting at the last minute by walking out of the negotiations, was forced to join the agreement after failing to persuade a single nation to join it.
Many delegates - including Margaret Beckett, the UK's Secretary of State for the Environment - were openly in tears when agreement was finally reached yesterday morning after two successive all-night sessions and as many dramas and cliff-hangers as a second-rate soap opera.
Mrs Beckett told The Independent on Sunday that it represented an even greater breakthrough than the original agreement of the Kyoto Protocol almost exactly eight years ago. Environmentalists hailed the agreement - which exceeded the most optimistic expectations - as "historic".
The agreement marks the culmination of a remarkable year for the world's attempts to bring global warming under control before it is too late. Not much more than a year ago, the Kyoto Protocol had yet to come into force, many leading commentators were writing its obituary, and the US administration was blocking any attempts even to talk about future negotiations.
Then Russia - the key hold-out - ratified the protocol, enabling it to come into force in February, and Tony Blair made climate change one of the top priorities of Britain's presidencies of the EU and the G8 group of industrialised nations this year. At the G8 Gleneagles summit this summer President Bush had to agree to further talks.
Yesterday's agreement - far from burying the Kyoto Protocol as the US wanted - has confirmed it and extended it. The 39 nations governed by it - all the industrialised countries apart from the US and Australia - have agreed in principle to make deeper cuts in the pollution emissions causing climate change when their present clean-up commitments run out in 2012.
Read More
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article332384.ece
Government's watchdog attacks failure on climate change targets
By Colin Brown, Deputy Political Editor
Published: 12 December 2005
Tony Blair, John Prescott and Gordon Brown will be condemned today over the Government's failure to meet its targets on climate change in a report by its own watchdog on global warming.
The Prime Minister's "green guru", Sir Jonathon Porritt, who heads the Commission for Sustainable Development, will deliver a humiliating blow to Mr Blair over his claims to lead the world on climate change, one day after ministers celebrated a deal in Montreal to curb global warming.
The first CSD report, which will be circulated to ministers today, will award colour-coded ratings, like traffic signals, to the Government's performance on climate change. The three main targets, reducing waste, lowering water consumption, and sustainable development are set at red.
All the other tests are given amber warning lights. The Government has failed to achieve a single green light on any of its targets.
The most embarrassing red light is for the Government's target on reducing CO2 emissions by 12.5 per cent by 2012. Instead of cutting the harmful emissions that contribute to global warming, Britain has increased the emissions by 9 per cent since 1999.
The Government's own Whitehall departments come in for criticism in the report for wasting energy and water. The Cabinet Office in Whitehall uses the equivalent of 72 kettles of water per person per day, says the report.
The report is a blow for Mr Blair, who made climate change a top priority, along with Africa, for Britain's leadership this year of the G8, and its presidency of the EU. It will also annoy Mr Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, who committed the Government to the more ambitious target of reducing emissions by 20 per cent.
It will dampen the jubilation of Margaret Beckett, the Environment Secretary, who led the Montreal talks, and helped to force the US into returning to the negotiations after staging a walk-out. It is believed the U-turn was brought about after Mr Blair intervened in a telephone call to President George Bush.
Mrs Beckett confirmed that Mr Blair was reluctant to adopt climate change as one of his priorities for the year. "He was quite hard to convince," she said. "Because until you get into it, it doesn't sound like a big deal."
The CSD report is intended as a stark warning to the Government that more radical action is needed to persuade the public to change their lifestyles - including breaking the love affair with the car. Sir Jonathon told MPs on the Commons Environmental Audit Committee that higher petrol prices were needed, including recent hikes in world oil prices, to force changes in the way oil was used. But the Chancellor announced in his pre-Budget report last week that he will freeze petrol duty in April to stop the price rising higher.
Sir Jonathon also warned Mr Blair that opting for nuclear power is not a panacea. Mr Blair has ordered a second review of energy to prepare the ground for a new generation of nuclear generating stations, but Sir Jonathon said the CSD is carrying out its own report which will be delivered in the new year.
He warned that the chances of the emission trading scheme delivering the cuts in emissions needed to meet Britain's targets were zero. "The instruments being used by Government, particularly the climate-change levy, are business-focused, and do not involve the vast majority of citizens in their own households, their transport, and so on. That is a politically complicated thing to do, but that is the only way in which we are going to get anywhere near those long-term targets that the Government has set," he said .
Sir Jonathon also revealed that the CSD has already had clashes with the Department of Trade and Industry over the methodology used in its reports, but had been proved right. The latest report has been audited by a respected accounting company, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Downing Street said Mr Blair would keep up the momentum for an extension of the carbon emissions trading scheme within the EU beyond 2012. A No 10 source said: "We need to give businesses the confidence to make long-term investment decisions which will help reduce harmful carbon emissions."
Progress report
* CO2 EMISSIONS: The UK has a legally binding target under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5 per cent below base-year levels by 2008-12 and a further domestic goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2010. Britain's emissions have increased by 9 per cent since 1999.
* WATER: Reducing water use has been agreed as a priority across Whitehall and government offices but the report criticises the Government for lack of progress. The Watermark project claimed that every £1 invested in water-saving measures could yield up to £10 in savings. But the Cabinet Office is still using the equivalent of 70 kettles of water per person per day.
* WASTE: England produces 375 million tons of waste each year, with 90 per cent from commercial and industrial activities. At the moment much waste goes to landfill sites, space is running out and waste tonnage continues to rise. The current position is not sustainable and urgent action is needed to reduce waste growth and recycle more.
* ENERGY: The energy White Paper committed the Government to ensuring that every home is adequately and affordably heated. But households are using even more energy; up by 2 per cent since 2000. Energy efficiency is improving, but still far behind some EU countries on new homes. Resistance in Whitehall and among house builders to tough targets being imposed on heating efficiency for new homes.
Making a difference in the home
Some of the things we will have to do to reduce global warming:
* Switch from ovens to steamers.
* Leave the car at home - a government survey showed traffic levels on Britain's roads rose by 79 per cent between 1980 and 2003; road transport produced 22 per cent of British emissions of carbon dioxide in 2002.
* Take the train, not the plane: aviation is one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Serious health risks also come from toxic nitrogen oxide emissions. Government departments to pay into a carbon offset fund invested in green technology in developing countries for all ministerial trips by plane from April next year. But the Government has just agreed to a second runway at Stansted airport.
* Switch off electricity, and gadgets such as the television; don't leave gadgets on standby.
* Reduce central heating to below 20 degrees centrigrade.
Tony Blair, John Prescott and Gordon Brown will be condemned today over the Government's failure to meet its targets on climate change in a report by its own watchdog on global warming.
The Prime Minister's "green guru", Sir Jonathon Porritt, who heads the Commission for Sustainable Development, will deliver a humiliating blow to Mr Blair over his claims to lead the world on climate change, one day after ministers celebrated a deal in Montreal to curb global warming.
The first CSD report, which will be circulated to ministers today, will award colour-coded ratings, like traffic signals, to the Government's performance on climate change. The three main targets, reducing waste, lowering water consumption, and sustainable development are set at red.
All the other tests are given amber warning lights. The Government has failed to achieve a single green light on any of its targets.
The most embarrassing red light is for the Government's target on reducing CO2 emissions by 12.5 per cent by 2012. Instead of cutting the harmful emissions that contribute to global warming, Britain has increased the emissions by 9 per cent since 1999.
The Government's own Whitehall departments come in for criticism in the report for wasting energy and water. The Cabinet Office in Whitehall uses the equivalent of 72 kettles of water per person per day, says the report.
The report is a blow for Mr Blair, who made climate change a top priority, along with Africa, for Britain's leadership this year of the G8, and its presidency of the EU. It will also annoy Mr Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, who committed the Government to the more ambitious target of reducing emissions by 20 per cent.
It will dampen the jubilation of Margaret Beckett, the Environment Secretary, who led the Montreal talks, and helped to force the US into returning to the negotiations after staging a walk-out. It is believed the U-turn was brought about after Mr Blair intervened in a telephone call to President George Bush.
Mrs Beckett confirmed that Mr Blair was reluctant to adopt climate change as one of his priorities for the year. "He was quite hard to convince," she said. "Because until you get into it, it doesn't sound like a big deal."
The CSD report is intended as a stark warning to the Government that more radical action is needed to persuade the public to change their lifestyles - including breaking the love affair with the car. Sir Jonathon told MPs on the Commons Environmental Audit Committee that higher petrol prices were needed, including recent hikes in world oil prices, to force changes in the way oil was used. But the Chancellor announced in his pre-Budget report last week that he will freeze petrol duty in April to stop the price rising higher.
Sir Jonathon also warned Mr Blair that opting for nuclear power is not a panacea. Mr Blair has ordered a second review of energy to prepare the ground for a new generation of nuclear generating stations, but Sir Jonathon said the CSD is carrying out its own report which will be delivered in the new year.
He warned that the chances of the emission trading scheme delivering the cuts in emissions needed to meet Britain's targets were zero. "The instruments being used by Government, particularly the climate-change levy, are business-focused, and do not involve the vast majority of citizens in their own households, their transport, and so on. That is a politically complicated thing to do, but that is the only way in which we are going to get anywhere near those long-term targets that the Government has set," he said .
Sir Jonathon also revealed that the CSD has already had clashes with the Department of Trade and Industry over the methodology used in its reports, but had been proved right. The latest report has been audited by a respected accounting company, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Downing Street said Mr Blair would keep up the momentum for an extension of the carbon emissions trading scheme within the EU beyond 2012. A No 10 source said: "We need to give businesses the confidence to make long-term investment decisions which will help reduce harmful carbon emissions."
Progress report
* CO2 EMISSIONS: The UK has a legally binding target under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5 per cent below base-year levels by 2008-12 and a further domestic goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2010. Britain's emissions have increased by 9 per cent since 1999.
* WATER: Reducing water use has been agreed as a priority across Whitehall and government offices but the report criticises the Government for lack of progress. The Watermark project claimed that every £1 invested in water-saving measures could yield up to £10 in savings. But the Cabinet Office is still using the equivalent of 70 kettles of water per person per day.
* WASTE: England produces 375 million tons of waste each year, with 90 per cent from commercial and industrial activities. At the moment much waste goes to landfill sites, space is running out and waste tonnage continues to rise. The current position is not sustainable and urgent action is needed to reduce waste growth and recycle more.
* ENERGY: The energy White Paper committed the Government to ensuring that every home is adequately and affordably heated. But households are using even more energy; up by 2 per cent since 2000. Energy efficiency is improving, but still far behind some EU countries on new homes. Resistance in Whitehall and among house builders to tough targets being imposed on heating efficiency for new homes.
Making a difference in the home
Some of the things we will have to do to reduce global warming:
* Switch from ovens to steamers.
* Leave the car at home - a government survey showed traffic levels on Britain's roads rose by 79 per cent between 1980 and 2003; road transport produced 22 per cent of British emissions of carbon dioxide in 2002.
* Take the train, not the plane: aviation is one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Serious health risks also come from toxic nitrogen oxide emissions. Government departments to pay into a carbon offset fund invested in green technology in developing countries for all ministerial trips by plane from April next year. But the Government has just agreed to a second runway at Stansted airport.
* Switch off electricity, and gadgets such as the television; don't leave gadgets on standby.
* Reduce central heating to below 20 degrees centrigrade.
By Colin Brown, Deputy Political Editor
Published: 12 December 2005
Tony Blair, John Prescott and Gordon Brown will be condemned today over the Government's failure to meet its targets on climate change in a report by its own watchdog on global warming.
The Prime Minister's "green guru", Sir Jonathon Porritt, who heads the Commission for Sustainable Development, will deliver a humiliating blow to Mr Blair over his claims to lead the world on climate change, one day after ministers celebrated a deal in Montreal to curb global warming.
The first CSD report, which will be circulated to ministers today, will award colour-coded ratings, like traffic signals, to the Government's performance on climate change. The three main targets, reducing waste, lowering water consumption, and sustainable development are set at red.
All the other tests are given amber warning lights. The Government has failed to achieve a single green light on any of its targets.
The most embarrassing red light is for the Government's target on reducing CO2 emissions by 12.5 per cent by 2012. Instead of cutting the harmful emissions that contribute to global warming, Britain has increased the emissions by 9 per cent since 1999.
The Government's own Whitehall departments come in for criticism in the report for wasting energy and water. The Cabinet Office in Whitehall uses the equivalent of 72 kettles of water per person per day, says the report.
The report is a blow for Mr Blair, who made climate change a top priority, along with Africa, for Britain's leadership this year of the G8, and its presidency of the EU. It will also annoy Mr Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, who committed the Government to the more ambitious target of reducing emissions by 20 per cent.
It will dampen the jubilation of Margaret Beckett, the Environment Secretary, who led the Montreal talks, and helped to force the US into returning to the negotiations after staging a walk-out. It is believed the U-turn was brought about after Mr Blair intervened in a telephone call to President George Bush.
Mrs Beckett confirmed that Mr Blair was reluctant to adopt climate change as one of his priorities for the year. "He was quite hard to convince," she said. "Because until you get into it, it doesn't sound like a big deal."
The CSD report is intended as a stark warning to the Government that more radical action is needed to persuade the public to change their lifestyles - including breaking the love affair with the car. Sir Jonathon told MPs on the Commons Environmental Audit Committee that higher petrol prices were needed, including recent hikes in world oil prices, to force changes in the way oil was used. But the Chancellor announced in his pre-Budget report last week that he will freeze petrol duty in April to stop the price rising higher.
Sir Jonathon also warned Mr Blair that opting for nuclear power is not a panacea. Mr Blair has ordered a second review of energy to prepare the ground for a new generation of nuclear generating stations, but Sir Jonathon said the CSD is carrying out its own report which will be delivered in the new year.
He warned that the chances of the emission trading scheme delivering the cuts in emissions needed to meet Britain's targets were zero. "The instruments being used by Government, particularly the climate-change levy, are business-focused, and do not involve the vast majority of citizens in their own households, their transport, and so on. That is a politically complicated thing to do, but that is the only way in which we are going to get anywhere near those long-term targets that the Government has set," he said .
Sir Jonathon also revealed that the CSD has already had clashes with the Department of Trade and Industry over the methodology used in its reports, but had been proved right. The latest report has been audited by a respected accounting company, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Downing Street said Mr Blair would keep up the momentum for an extension of the carbon emissions trading scheme within the EU beyond 2012. A No 10 source said: "We need to give businesses the confidence to make long-term investment decisions which will help reduce harmful carbon emissions."
Progress report
* CO2 EMISSIONS: The UK has a legally binding target under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5 per cent below base-year levels by 2008-12 and a further domestic goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2010. Britain's emissions have increased by 9 per cent since 1999.
* WATER: Reducing water use has been agreed as a priority across Whitehall and government offices but the report criticises the Government for lack of progress. The Watermark project claimed that every £1 invested in water-saving measures could yield up to £10 in savings. But the Cabinet Office is still using the equivalent of 70 kettles of water per person per day.
* WASTE: England produces 375 million tons of waste each year, with 90 per cent from commercial and industrial activities. At the moment much waste goes to landfill sites, space is running out and waste tonnage continues to rise. The current position is not sustainable and urgent action is needed to reduce waste growth and recycle more.
* ENERGY: The energy White Paper committed the Government to ensuring that every home is adequately and affordably heated. But households are using even more energy; up by 2 per cent since 2000. Energy efficiency is improving, but still far behind some EU countries on new homes. Resistance in Whitehall and among house builders to tough targets being imposed on heating efficiency for new homes.
Making a difference in the home
Some of the things we will have to do to reduce global warming:
* Switch from ovens to steamers.
* Leave the car at home - a government survey showed traffic levels on Britain's roads rose by 79 per cent between 1980 and 2003; road transport produced 22 per cent of British emissions of carbon dioxide in 2002.
* Take the train, not the plane: aviation is one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Serious health risks also come from toxic nitrogen oxide emissions. Government departments to pay into a carbon offset fund invested in green technology in developing countries for all ministerial trips by plane from April next year. But the Government has just agreed to a second runway at Stansted airport.
* Switch off electricity, and gadgets such as the television; don't leave gadgets on standby.
* Reduce central heating to below 20 degrees centrigrade.
Tony Blair, John Prescott and Gordon Brown will be condemned today over the Government's failure to meet its targets on climate change in a report by its own watchdog on global warming.
The Prime Minister's "green guru", Sir Jonathon Porritt, who heads the Commission for Sustainable Development, will deliver a humiliating blow to Mr Blair over his claims to lead the world on climate change, one day after ministers celebrated a deal in Montreal to curb global warming.
The first CSD report, which will be circulated to ministers today, will award colour-coded ratings, like traffic signals, to the Government's performance on climate change. The three main targets, reducing waste, lowering water consumption, and sustainable development are set at red.
All the other tests are given amber warning lights. The Government has failed to achieve a single green light on any of its targets.
The most embarrassing red light is for the Government's target on reducing CO2 emissions by 12.5 per cent by 2012. Instead of cutting the harmful emissions that contribute to global warming, Britain has increased the emissions by 9 per cent since 1999.
The Government's own Whitehall departments come in for criticism in the report for wasting energy and water. The Cabinet Office in Whitehall uses the equivalent of 72 kettles of water per person per day, says the report.
The report is a blow for Mr Blair, who made climate change a top priority, along with Africa, for Britain's leadership this year of the G8, and its presidency of the EU. It will also annoy Mr Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, who committed the Government to the more ambitious target of reducing emissions by 20 per cent.
It will dampen the jubilation of Margaret Beckett, the Environment Secretary, who led the Montreal talks, and helped to force the US into returning to the negotiations after staging a walk-out. It is believed the U-turn was brought about after Mr Blair intervened in a telephone call to President George Bush.
Mrs Beckett confirmed that Mr Blair was reluctant to adopt climate change as one of his priorities for the year. "He was quite hard to convince," she said. "Because until you get into it, it doesn't sound like a big deal."
The CSD report is intended as a stark warning to the Government that more radical action is needed to persuade the public to change their lifestyles - including breaking the love affair with the car. Sir Jonathon told MPs on the Commons Environmental Audit Committee that higher petrol prices were needed, including recent hikes in world oil prices, to force changes in the way oil was used. But the Chancellor announced in his pre-Budget report last week that he will freeze petrol duty in April to stop the price rising higher.
Sir Jonathon also warned Mr Blair that opting for nuclear power is not a panacea. Mr Blair has ordered a second review of energy to prepare the ground for a new generation of nuclear generating stations, but Sir Jonathon said the CSD is carrying out its own report which will be delivered in the new year.
He warned that the chances of the emission trading scheme delivering the cuts in emissions needed to meet Britain's targets were zero. "The instruments being used by Government, particularly the climate-change levy, are business-focused, and do not involve the vast majority of citizens in their own households, their transport, and so on. That is a politically complicated thing to do, but that is the only way in which we are going to get anywhere near those long-term targets that the Government has set," he said .
Sir Jonathon also revealed that the CSD has already had clashes with the Department of Trade and Industry over the methodology used in its reports, but had been proved right. The latest report has been audited by a respected accounting company, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Downing Street said Mr Blair would keep up the momentum for an extension of the carbon emissions trading scheme within the EU beyond 2012. A No 10 source said: "We need to give businesses the confidence to make long-term investment decisions which will help reduce harmful carbon emissions."
Progress report
* CO2 EMISSIONS: The UK has a legally binding target under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5 per cent below base-year levels by 2008-12 and a further domestic goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2010. Britain's emissions have increased by 9 per cent since 1999.
* WATER: Reducing water use has been agreed as a priority across Whitehall and government offices but the report criticises the Government for lack of progress. The Watermark project claimed that every £1 invested in water-saving measures could yield up to £10 in savings. But the Cabinet Office is still using the equivalent of 70 kettles of water per person per day.
* WASTE: England produces 375 million tons of waste each year, with 90 per cent from commercial and industrial activities. At the moment much waste goes to landfill sites, space is running out and waste tonnage continues to rise. The current position is not sustainable and urgent action is needed to reduce waste growth and recycle more.
* ENERGY: The energy White Paper committed the Government to ensuring that every home is adequately and affordably heated. But households are using even more energy; up by 2 per cent since 2000. Energy efficiency is improving, but still far behind some EU countries on new homes. Resistance in Whitehall and among house builders to tough targets being imposed on heating efficiency for new homes.
Making a difference in the home
Some of the things we will have to do to reduce global warming:
* Switch from ovens to steamers.
* Leave the car at home - a government survey showed traffic levels on Britain's roads rose by 79 per cent between 1980 and 2003; road transport produced 22 per cent of British emissions of carbon dioxide in 2002.
* Take the train, not the plane: aviation is one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Serious health risks also come from toxic nitrogen oxide emissions. Government departments to pay into a carbon offset fund invested in green technology in developing countries for all ministerial trips by plane from April next year. But the Government has just agreed to a second runway at Stansted airport.
* Switch off electricity, and gadgets such as the television; don't leave gadgets on standby.
* Reduce central heating to below 20 degrees centrigrade.
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