Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, spent an hour answering questions on the UK Climate Projections and the Government’s plans to adapt to the challenges it will cause.
Read the transcript:
Moderator says: Hello and welcome to this morning’s webchat with Hilary Benn. Hilary will be with us shortly, and we should be starting in about 10 minutes.
Simon Birkett: The latest climate change forecasts paint a bleak picture unless bold action is taken now. Why should we think the government has the political will to take such action when it is failing to comply with air pollution laws now (ie those for dangerous airborne particles or PM10) and looks likely to breach those for nitrogen dioxide, a toxic gas, from January 2010 by a very wide margin?
Hilary replies: Morning Simon, and morning everyone - thanks for all your questions. I’ll do my best to answer as many as I can.
It’s not the case that we haven’t taken action. The UK is one of the few countries that will meet its Kyoto commitments, and we’ll do more than we promised then. CO2 emissions are down compared with 20 years ago. On air quality, as you know there have been huge improvements over the last 50 years, but like a lot of other EU countries we have a remaining problem with cars and main roads. But we will deal with it.
Mark White: We’re told that nothing can stop the changes that will occur over the next 30 years. What exactly are those changes going to be??????????
Hilary replies: Mark, our climate over this time will largely be determined by the emissions that are already out there. But that is not an argument for doing nothing. On the contrary, what we do now will have a huge impact on the second half of the century and what we pass on to our children and grandchildren.
We’re looking at warmer, drier summers and wetter winters and a continuing rise in sea level. For more info on how this might affect our lives go to our website www.defra.gov.uk/adaptation
Christopher Lambert: As part of you role as Secretary of State, you are responsible for farming - what role do you see farmers as having in tackling climate change?
Hilary replies: Farmers will need to play their part, just like the rest of us; how they use fertiliser and how they feed their livestock, the way soil is tilled and whether we plant more trees than we cut down, and the kind of fuel used to run tractors. Agriculture is responsible for about 7% of our emissions. On adaptation, farmers will need to store more water when it’s available and use it as efficiently as possible in the summer. Land can also help store floodwaters to help manage river flows - I visited a scheme that does just than in Lincolnshire last Friday.
Joyce Lee: Adaptation is primarily a local issue. What in your view is the role of local authorities and with other immediate duties (dealing umployment), how do you make adaptation a local priority?
Hilary replies: There are lots of things that LAs can do; the way new public buildings are designed to cope better with hot summers; the design capacity of drainage systems so that they can better cope with huge downpours; and making sure that planning applications take account of flood risk. All LAs now have to report on their progress in adapting to climate change.
T Lenton: Since the earth has not warmed at all over the last decade, but carbon dioxide emissions have risen considerably, why do we assume that carbon dioxide emissions cause warming?
Hilary replies: I am not a scientist, but I am sitting next to one! CO2 is not the only thing that affects the climate; there are other natural variations which mean that just taking a short period misses the longer term trend. In particular, in 1998 we had a major El Nino which tends to warm the planet and we have not had one since; so the underlying trend has not yet caught up.
Chris Ward: Given that the Met Office seem to have difficulty predicting the weather next week, how can we believe what they say is going to happen in 30 years time?
Hilary replies: The Climate Projections are not a long range weather forecast, and there are of course uncertainties - as we have made clear. But the long-term trend is also clear, and my own eyes tell me that spring comes earlier now than when I was a child. The earth has warmed by about 0.7 degrees C since the pre-industrial period - that’s a fact.
Andrew Milton: Why, when they create so much Co2, are we building more coal power stations? surely it would be better to invest this money into clean fuel power stations.
Hilary replies: Andrew, we need baseload capacity - to ensure that when we all switch on our kettles there is enough power. The three ways you can provide this are nuclear, gas and coal. The UK now has the toughest conditions in the world applying to new coal plants - all of them will have to demonstrate carbon capture and storage; in other words, taking out the carbon and storing it safely under the ground. Why is it important to develop this technology ? Because look at how China and India generate their electricity - mainly by burning coal. We have to develop this technology if we are to get global emissions down.
Mark Dowe: “Kyoto”. Would the minister agree that this protocol is effectively redundant with so many countries failing to implement it? Something new is needed in replacing Kyoto, particularly as Barack Obama seems ready to engage the US into dealing with global emissions.
Hilary replies: It’s clearly insufficient Mark. That’s why we need a new deal at Copenhagen this December.
Mark Dowe: The Scottish Government accepted WWF (Scotland)’s recommendations in reducing carbon emissions by up to 80% by the year 2050. Is the UK Govt able to match this commitment?
Hilary replies: We already have in our Climate Change Act! But it’s not a competition…..
Tom Wells: On the medium emissions scenario sea level is set to rise 36 cm by 2080. Estimates of sea level rise have varied widely it seems certain that coastal flooding is going to be a bigger problem in the future. What effect will this have on off-shore wind and new nuclear power stations proposed for coastal areas?
Hilary replies: The projections will help us to manage that risk and ensure that any new plants are properly protected. We need that offshore wind power and, in fact, we are now producing more electricity from it than any other country in the world.
Zenos Picasso: dear sir,the projection will be paid by government,but who paid the government?the tax payers.so we paid the projectiong ourselves,right?
Hilary replies: Yes
Andrew Lewis: If, as your figures show, we are going to have considerably hotter summers, does the government planning include a siesta lifestyle, or large scale air conditioning, especially for the elderly?
Hilary replies: We will need to change things. The NHS, for example, now has a heatwave plan as a result of what happened in the hot summer of 2003 when 35,000 people died across Europe. Finding more natural ways of keeping buildings cool - blinds and shades - will also be important.
Margaret Thomas: In Kingston upon Hull we suffered badly during the floods of June 2007 yet the local council forge ahead with plans to build an academy on covenanted green space in the north of the city (the Princess Elzabeth Playing Fields). This is a natural aquagreen which saved surrounding residential properties from flooding. The under ground water storage tanks they propose will not be adequate protection for the amount of water we experienced last year. Why is our local authority permitted to ignore national policy guidelines to pursue a development which is opposed by the majority of the local community and thereby increase flood risk to our homes which will worsen as climate change progresses?
Hilary replies: Margaret, I don’t know about the detail of this scheme, but I do know how much Hull suffered in 2007. It was an example of what can happen if we pave, tarmac and concrete over all of our towns and cities. That’s why in Sir Michael Pitt’s report into the flooding he said that local councils must take the lead in looking at how surface water is dealt with - basically, it has to go somewhere - and in future developments will have to take this into account.
James Knight: Can we be a global frontrunner in fighting climate change issues while going ahead with the third runway at Heathrow?
Hilary replies: We will always have a choice about where we emit the much smaller amount of carbon that the world can cope with, but if we use that for flying then we will have to make savings elsewhere. It was a difficult decision, but we decided that any new runway would only get just over half the new slots BAA were looking for; the rest would only be released if the Committee on Climate Change decides that doing so would be consistent with our climate targets. In other words, we now have a constrained growth in aviation emissions and a target to get these emissions back by 2050 to where they were in 2005.
Brian Edmonds: Why isn’t population growth considered in global warming? It is a major driver.
Hilary replies: Brian, it is one of the pressures. But we know that the best way to get population growth down in the developing world - compared to what it would otherwise be - is for them to develop economically, plus getting girls into school and better access to contraception. So the question is how developing countries can make these changes while becoming more low carbon.
Mark Dowe: The sea defences in the UK are insufficient for the modern day threat. How is the Govt prepared either through activating an early warning system or in the event of a mini tsunami happening on these shores?
Hilary replies: Well , Mark, the best thing people can do is to get on the Environment Agency flood warning system - 08459 881188. It will send you an automatic message when flooding is threatened. As for investment, we have doubled what we spend on flood defences in the last 12 years, as a reult of which more homes are being protected. But sea level rise and more winter rainfall mean that we will have to do more.
anarchyintheuk: Is a target of achieving the same emissions by 2050 as those in 2005 levels really aiming to tackle climate change?
Hilary replies: I was talking just about aviation. Overall, the UK is now committed to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% by 2050.
carly: Why wont the government actively promote the vegetarian diet as an affective solution to help minimise climate change…
Hilary replies: Carly, it’s for each of us to decide what we eat. As it happens, I have been a veggie for 38 years….
John Doe: How Do We Know that the Atmospheric Build-up of Greenhouse Gases Is Due to Human Activity?
Hilary replies: We know how much CO2 has been emitted and that about half of that has remained in the atmosphere; the rest has largely been absorbed by the oceans. We know from ice core records going back 400,000 years that the last 100 years has seen a sharp rise in CO2 concentrations which is unprecedented.
tim duffy: I would be interested to hear what tax incentives the Government is considering to increase the adoption of CO2 reduction measures such as eliminating VAT on domestic solar installations, light bulbs etc and incentives for business to switch to technologies like conference calling to cut business travel. Thank you.
Hilary replies: We have been pushing in the EU for member states to be able to reduce VAT on energy efficient products, but we need the support of other member states. We expect the Commission to publish changes later this year.
Mark Dowe: Does the minister accept that the carbon trading emissions scheme, part of an EU Directive, will be sufficient in helping emerging economies to invest in renewable technologies? So much is needing to be done in helping them.
Hilary replies: Given that we live in a market economy, carbon trading is one of the ways we can change the incentives in favour of low carbon development. But we will need to do other things as well; for example, making it a requirement that new products meet better emission standards - that’s what the agreement we reached with lighting retailers and manufacturers was all about. Mr Edison’s lightbulb was a great invention but we now have lower carbon alternatives that do the job!
carly: we need baseload capacity - to ensure that when we all switch on our kettles there is enough power. The three ways you can provide this are nuclear, gas and coal. Why no wind , solar and hydro power?
Hilary replies: We need those too, of course, but if the wind isn’t blowing or it’s dark there is a bit of a problem…
Cait Hurley: There has been a flurry of very useful research and reiteration of useful ideas above and beyond the usual “plant more trees”. One important idea is the ‘whiting’ of roofs as a matter of urgency given the imminent extreme reduction of Arctic ice cover in the summer. Can Mr Benn comment on whether ‘green housing’ regulations may be upgraded to include this action on new housing, or even better, if a ‘Green army’ can be supported through the recession, providing jobs for unemployed building contractors, actively upgrading existing housing / business building stock as soon as possible? To add a brief comment: for me, the argument cannot be cost or increased taxes. I have two very young children and I don’t mind admitting that the future for all children, globally, has now become not just worrying, but frightening. We will have no economy, never mind future, if we do not move quickly. As in, last week!
Hilary replies: Dear Cait
I have four children - they’re older than yours - but I worry about what we are leaving them with just like you. There is a balance to be struck here. Yes, we have to take all this seriously, but we won’t make the changes we need if we are all terrified. We have to encourage each other to get on with it. The truth is that human beings have an astonishing capacity to do things, and we will need all of that in the years ahead. But what keeps me going is meeting people who are making the changes we need, and I always think - well, if they can do it, why can’t we….the answer is, we can!
James Knight: Are cheap flights making it too easy for people, whether travelling for business or pleasure, to ignore possibilities other than flying, that might reduce their carbon footprint? For instance, videoconferencing or rail for business trips.
Hilary replies: Well James, we’re doing a bit of that today…. I used to do a lot of videoconferencing when I was the international development minister talking to our folk all over the world, bu we also need to see each other face to face sometimes. Hope to meet you some day…
Sorry everyone, but I have to go now. Sorry I could not answer more of your questions, but the Defra and DECC websites have more info. And good luck with getting those emissions down.
Moderator says: Thank you for all your questions. There will be more webchats in the coming weeks - we’ll let you know details asap.
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