World Development Movement response to the government's 'Road to Copenhagen'

The World Development Movement strongly criticises the government's 'Road to Copenhagen' as 'riddled with pot holes.'

Tim Jones, climate policy officer at the World Development Movement said:

"Unfortunately, the 'Road to Copenhagen' is riddled with pot holes and Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband are posturing as the international saviours of the planet. The reality is that the climate science that the document is based on is out-of-date; the plans for a new Kingsnorth power station will smash our carbon reduction targets; and claiming that the global carbon market will deliver both reductions of our emissions, as well as financial assistance to developing countries to reduce their emissions is simply double counting on an Enronesque scale.

"If the government genuinely wishes to achieve a global climate deal that will help to prevent dangerous climate change, they must lead and not posture. The first thing that Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband should do if they are serious about preventing catastrophic climate change is to abandon plans for new dirty coal power stations in the UK.

"The global carbon market is not the solution. It means that the government can claim that we are reducing our carbon emissions whilst burning fossil fuels as normal. And they falsely claim that the carbon market will help developing countries develop in a low carbon way. We must not be fooled by this double counting; we must reduce our emissions and give financial assistance to developing countries to help reduce their emissions and adapt to climate change.

ENDS

For more information or an interview with Tim Jones, Please call Kate Blagojevic on 020 7820 4900 / 07711 875 345

Notes to editors

The World Development Movement suggests that the climate science is out-of-date as it states that to limit temperature increases to a maximum of 2°C global emissions must peak and start to reduce by 2020 and be cut by 50 per cent by 2050. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimated in 2007 that global emissions need to peak by 2000-2015 which would still result in temperature increases of more than 2°C. More recent estimates suggest global emissions need to peak by 2015 at the latest and be cut by 80 per cent on 1990 levels by 2050.

Kate Blagojevic
Press officer, World Development Movement
0207 820 4900/4913, 07711 875 345, Email: kate.blagojevic@wdm.org.uk