Labour fails to address Climate Change

11.57.31pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 31st Mar 2005

New statistics, released today reveal that carbon dioxide emissions in the UK have increased by 3% under Labour since 1997. Worse still with an increase in greenhouse gas emissions in the last year, it appears we have started to move backwards on Kyoto.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Rosalyn Harper said:

The only Earth we have

"With every passing week we hear of more and more evidence about the threat that climate change poses to the World as a whole, and in particular to those parts of the World that can least cope with it. Some believe the targets agreed at Kyoto were not demanding enough, but their adoption was a positive step forward. These latest figures show a very worrying trend and show the need for new initiatives in this area. The Liberal Democrats' real alternative on the environment would see action on tackling emissions from traffic, aviation and energy use."

Shadow Environment Secretary, Norman Baker MP said:

"The increase in carbon emissions and greenhouse gases shows the failure of Labour's strategy for tackling climate change.

"The latest figures mean we have little hope now of reaching the 20% reduction target for 2010 and that we may actually miss our targets under the Kyoto protocol. The problem is that none of Labour's policies actually inspire any confidence that these trends will be reversed, as all the indicators on energy and transport are going in the wrong direction."