Government must 'get serious' about climate change, say Methodists

The Methodist Church in Britain has responded to the report of the Committee on Climate Change by calling for concrete action and a commitment to long-term change.

The Church welcomed the committee's proposal of an 80 per cent target for the reduction of carbon emissions by 2050, saying it would require a greater investment in energy efficiency and rapid 'decarbonisation' of the power and transport sectors.

It expressed concern, however, over an apparent lack of direction from the Government on how the target would be reached.

Christine Elliott, Team Secretary for External Relationships, said: "This is a huge challenge. We cannot let the fear of turmoil on the financial markets paralyse us. In the Britain of the future the use of fossil fuels must become the exception rather than the rule."

The Methodist Church has raised particular concerns over the use of carbon offsetting by industrialised nations. In submissions to Parliament, the Church called for the use of carbon credits to be very limited, offsetting no more than 10 per cent of the UK carbon reduction effort.

The Government has argued for industry to have the flexibility to use carbon credits to buy out 50 per cent of the carbon reduction effort required by the EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS).

"It would be unethical to dodge our responsibility to cut emissions in the UK by purchasing carbon offsets," said Steve Hucklesby, Policy Advisor. "Investment in clean development projects overseas is vital but cannot be a substitute for reducing carbon emissions in the UK.

"We are looking to the Government to provide strong leadership in mapping out the path to a low carbon economy."