Scope of carbon budgets
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Material Information

Title:
Scope of carbon budgets Statutory advice on inclusion of international aviation and shipping
Creator:
Committe on Climate Change
Publisher:
Committee on Climate Change
Publication Date:
Language:
English

Notes

Summary:
The Climate Change Act (2008) set up the framework for the UK’s carbon budgets and the 2050 target to reduce emissions by at least 80% below 1990 levels. The budgets and the 2050 target currently cover all UK emissions of greenhouse gases except those from international aviation and shipping1. Under the Climate Change Act, the Government must make a proposal to Parliament on inclusion of international aviation and shipping emissions by the end of 2012, taking into account the statutory advice of the Committee on Climate Change, which is set out in this report. Both we (in our advice on carbon budgets) and the Government (in its December 2011 Carbon Plan) have assumed emissions pathways that would achieve an overall 80% reduction across all sectors in 2050 (i.e. including international aviation and shipping). Currently legislated budgets that exclude international aviation and shipping are therefore designed to put the UK on track to an 80% reduction target that includes international aviation and shipping emissions. In this report we conclude that there is no longer any reason to account for these emissions differently to those from other sectors (e.g. power, buildings, surface transport), and that to do so creates uncertainty. We therefore recommend that the current approach should now be formalised through including emissions from international aviation and shipping in carbon budgets and the 2050 target. • Emissions from international aviation and shipping cause warming and therefore must be managed. • The current approach (i.e. an assumption that the 80% reduction includes international aviation and shipping) lacks legal underpinning and should be formalised in order to remove current uncertainties around the future interpretation of the 2050 target. • Including these sectors in carbon budgets and the 2050 target would be the most transparent, comprehensive and flexible approach. • Potential complexities that we previously identified (relating to design of the EU ETS cap for aviation and the accounting methodology for shipping) no longer exist.

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Florida International University
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