The climate bill has now gone through parliament. This briefing takes a look at the state of play in the climate bill as of August, 2008, examining the various targets and pledges and outlining their likely consequences.
Find out more about climate change and climate debt and how they are disastrous for the world's poor by reading our briefings and reports
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Climate Change
This page brings together the latest WDM news and commentary on climate change – the greatest challenge facing humanity. This is both an environmental, developmental and global justice issue. While rich countries are responsible for almost three quarters of the excessive carbon emissions driving climate change, it is poor countries that bear the brunt of the impact.
Climate change
The world is slowly waking up to the reality of climate change, but agreeing effective action is still an enormous task. That task is being made harder by demands from big business that its interests remain central to any solutions that are proposed. This briefing explores the detrimental effect of corporate power on the fight against climate change.
The
Ten years after Kyoto, this report highlights the difference between current emissions and historical emissions; the difference between emissions per country and emissions per person; the UK’s recent patchy history in reducing emissions; and the recent trend for the UK to ‘import’ emissions from countries such as China. The report suggests the need to understanding that different are based on different ways of looking at who is responsible, and that accommodating these differing perspectives is a critical part of the negotiations. Unless we acknowledge historical responsibility; the gaping inequality in emissions and consumption; the patchy record of industrialised countries in reducing emissions; the need to address the current emissions situation, and unless the fear of being ‘first to move’ is overcome, we face the frightening prospect of irreversible, climate change.
Climate change is increasingly seen as the biggest challenge facing humanity. We will all be affected by it, but it is many of the poorest countries in the world who will be affected most. This briefing looks at the disastrous impact climate change may have on Muslim majority countries including Bangladesh, Senegal, Mauritania and Pakistan.
Significant changes are needed across the whole of our society and economy to really tackle climate change. While changes in our own lives to reduce our carbon emissions are important, we need the UK government to take substantial action if we are to achieve climate justice. This briefing shows some examples of what the government could do if there were the political will.
Climate change is a justice issue. It has overwhelmingly been caused by the richest countries and people in the world, yet it is the poorest who will suffer first and suffer most from its effects.
The past 12 months have seen a significant change in the understanding of climate change. The legislative response from the
Climate change is a justice issue. It has overwhelmingly been caused by the richest, yet the poorest will suffer most from its effects. The
Climate change is an urgent threat to people throughout the world. It is the richest countries which make the greatest contribution to climate change. Therefore the richest countries must take the lead in combating climate change. The draft
bill is a welcome statement of intent by the UK government.
However, in addition to weak targets, the draft bill does not include all the ways in which the UK contributes to climate change. The targets do not include: CO2 emissions from the UK’s share of international aviation and shipping and Non CO2 emissions from aviation. This report demonstrates how those omissions undermine the effectiveness of the bill.
The UK government is now presenting itself as the world leader on climate change, but it is failing to take the action needed in a whole range of areas, of which flying is the most blatant. Aviation makes up 10–15 per cent of the UK’s contribution to climate change, and is our fastest growing source of emissions. Yet the Department of Transport is planning for a doubling of air travel between 2002 and 2020, which would more than cancel out the reductions expected from all other sectors. WDM urges the government to stop further growth in emissions from UK aviation - the key litmus test of its commitment to tackling climate change.
This briefing asks and answers a number of 'tricky questions' about the relationship between aviation and climate change. In doing so this briefing is a useful reference and summary of the issues surrounding aviation with respect to climate change.
This report looks at the aviation sector’s contribution to climate change. In 2005, aviation accounted for 6.3 per cent of the UK’s CO2 emissions. Given the extra warming effects of non-CO2 emissions from aviation, aviation’s share of the UK’s contribution to climate change is higher still. It is predicted that CO2 emissions from UK aviation will more than double by 2030 and treble by 2050. The UK government is committed to limiting the increase in global temperatures to 2°C on pre-industrial levels. A 50 per cent chance of achieving this requires a global emissions cut of 70 per cent by 2050 and 75 per cent by 2100. Given the UK’s per capita emissions, a cut of 85-90 per cent by 2050 is needed. This is impossible at the current rate of aviation growth. Government action on aviation should therefore be a critical part of the battle against climate change.
Climate change is the greatest crisis facing humanity and it will hit the poorest people of the world the hardest. Rich countries like the UK are historically responsible for most of the carbon dioxide built up in the atmosphere, but it is the poor people in these poor countries, who contribute the least to this problem, who will suffer the most severe consequences. This briefing, released in the run up to the climate change bill, therefore highlights the developmental impact of climate change to MPs.
The World Development Movement (WDM) has been highlighting the impact of the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) on democracy for many years. This toolkit can be seen as the latest step in the evolution of this work; an attempt to provide some ideas and examples concerning how legislators can take action to improve their oversight of policy-making in an environment where the IFIs have significant influence. This document is aimed at both legislators and those who work with them. In doing so, it attempts to span a range of issues meaning some sections will cover ground already familiar to some of this audience. As the name suggests however, the toolkit is designed so that sections can be picked out if they are relevant or useful to the reader without having to look at other parts of the document.
Climate change is the result of human actions. The evidence shows that the impact will be felt most by the poorest people in the world. The Climate calendar is a new way to look at the issue of climate change; who is responsible for it and thus who must take the lead in delivering the solution. The calendar shows the injustice of the UK’s use of carbon emissions. The impacts of climate change are clear; what is needed now is the campaigning to ensure the impacts are minimised. The climate change threat is so big and so urgent that politicians cannot be given any excuses for not acting. It is up to the masses of the people to campaign for a transformation to a low carbon British economy in order to see that global justice is done.
