The following is taken from Prime Ministers Press briefing from 14th
November. (http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page8522.asp). As you
will see they state that energy review will be completed in the spring.
Asked what was the Prime Minister's opinion on the World Wide Fund for
Nature (WWF) recent climate change criticisms, the PMOS replied as
Alastair Darling had made clear this morning that we remained committed
to our CO2 target, which was to reduce emissions by 20 per cent by 2010.
We were also one of the few countries who were on target to meet our
Kyoto target as well. However, the reality that we all faced was that
Kyoto did not include the United States, India or China, and that was
why it was so vital that we started to try and get a consensus on what
happened post-Kyoto, and we started that process now.
That was also why Gleneagles and the G8 +G5 meeting, which was held
earlier in the month, was also so important. What we needed to develop
was not only the technology which would allow us to deal with climate
change, but also the agreement to share that technology. There was a
choice in this: either stand on the sideline and shout at those who were
not part of the Kyoto process, or engage with those who were not part of
the Kyoto process and try and find consensus about how the issue was
dealt with. We believed that the process that was started at Gleneagles
was beginning to work, there was a real dialogue and therefore, we would
reject the WWF criticisms.
Put to the PMOS that David King said in a radio interview today that we
would probably miss the 2010 emissions target, and what was the
Government planning to do about getting back on schedule, the PMOS said
that it was surely only a shortage of time that stopped the journalist
from finishing off the quote, as David King also said he was sure that
Ministers would try their hardest to meet the target! The PMOS said we
would "bust a gut" to meet the target, and we had already announced last
week, for example, the 5 per cent target for introduction of biofuels
into petrol by 2010. That would have a massive impact. Equally, we were
carrying out the Energy Review, and that would report in the Spring. It
was not as if we were simply standing back, wringing our hands; rather,
we were actively working to try and achieve the 2010 target.
Put to the PMOS that if the World Trade talks were so important, why was
the Prime Minister not going to Hong Kong, the PMOS said there were
levels at which these negotiations were conducted, and they would be
done at the appropriate level. What the Prime Minister had made clear,
however, was that we needed to not lower our ambition, but to try and
use Hong Kong as part of the overall round that would take us further
forward. That process would run to the end of 2006, but Hong Kong had to
take us significantly further forward.
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