The Government's Climate Change Bill is due to become law this year.
The Bill proposes to create two statutory targets to reduce CO2 emissions:
- Against a 1990 baseline, the Bill aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 26-32% by 2020.
- In the longer term, the Bill sets a target of reducing CO2 emissions by 60% by 2050, this may be increased to an 80% reduction.
To achieve the targets detailed above, the Bill proposes the introduction of carbon budgeting. Carbon budgeting is defined by the Government as 'a limit on the total quantity of CO2 emissions over a specified period of time'. The Bill suggests the introduction of five-year carbon budgets, beginning with the period 2008-2012.
The NHS Confederation has produced a summary of the draft Bill. In 2007, the NHS Confederation published Taking the temperature: Towards an NHS response to global warming and we held fringe events with the LGA about climate change at the party conferences. We conducted a member survey on climate change in January 2008 and are building our work programme on the views sent in.
Saving Carbon, Improving Health: A Carbon Reduction Strategy for the NHS in England
The NHS Confederation has responded to the NHS Sustainable Development Unit's consultation. Climate change is now recognised as one of the most significant challenges facing the world. As one of the largest organisations in Europe, with 1 million patient contacts every 36 hours, the NHS can make a significant contribution to the UK's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
