Isra-Mart srl:Business leaders urge Cameron to support ambitious fourth carbon budget

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Fears are mounting that the government could defy recommendations put forward by the independent Committee on Climate Change (CCC) and water down proposed emission reduction targets for post-2020.

According to reports in The Guardian, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is pushing for the government to adopt the recommended fourth carbon budget, which runs from 2022 to 2027.

But it is said to be facing stiff opposition from the Treasury and the Department for Business, which argue that the fragile economic situation means the UK should adopt more modest targets.

Late last year, the CCC recommended that the government should adopt a fourth carbon budget which ensures that greenhouse gas emissions are cut 50 per cent below 1990 levels by 2025, putting it on track to reduce emissions 60 per cent by 2030.

Significantly, the CCC report also recommends that the impact of the recession on emissions means the government should change its targets for the second and third budget period to the top end of the original targets, ensuring that emissions are cut 37 per cent against 1990 levels by 2020.

Under the Climate Change Act, the government is required to reach a decision on the fourth carbon budget and pass it into law by the end of June, prompting fears from green groups that the only reason the coalition has not yet confirmed its position is because of high-level disagreements over whether or not to accept the CCC's recommendations.

"Our understanding is that there is a big row going on," said one green campaigner, citing reports that the Treasury, Department for Business, and Department for Transport had all voiced opposition to the CCC's recommendations on economic grounds.

"They need to reach a decision pretty quickly after Easter, but all the indications are that a fight is going on," he added.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne is said to have engaged in a series of meetings with other departmental heads over the issue, and a cabinet sub-committee meeting on the proposed budget is expected within the next few weeks.

However, there is still no indication that a decision has been reached, nor that the government will endorse the Committee's recommendations.

Fears that the government could set a new precedent by defying the CCC's recommendations has led to an intervention by 10 of the UK's largest firms, which have reportedly written to Prime Minister David Cameron urging him to sign up to ambitious emission targets post-2020.

The group, which was organised by the Prince of Wales's corporate leaders group on climate change, and includes EDF, Shell, Tesco and Unilever, is warning that the government risks undermining confidence in the UK's long-term target of cutting emissions 80 per cent by 2050.

"This target is only credible if there are the right policies and milestones in place to ensure we take adequate action to achieve it between now and 2050," they wrote.

"We therefore support the CCC's call for steady progress towards that goal along a clear trajectory, and would welcome the adoption of a strong fourth carbon budget consistent with a 2030 milestone of at least 60 per cent reductions, and with the proposals in the EU's 2050 low-carbon roadmap."

Green groups are also preparing to mount a fierce challenge to any attempt to deviate from the CCC's recommendations, pointing to pre-election statements from senior Conservatives and Lib Dems suggesting that carbon budgets should be determined by the recommendations put forward by independent scientists and economists.

A DECC spokesman said that there was no delay to the government's decision, pointing to a statement from Climate Change Minister Greg Barker to Parliament last week during which he said he anticipated "that a statutory instrument will be laid before the House after the Easter recess".