20150214_R4

Source: BBC Radio 4: Today Programme

URL: N/A

Date: 14/02/2015

Event: Politicians commit UK to low-carbon economy "in which coal-burning"... "will play no part"

Credit: BBC Radio 4: Today Programme

People:

• Carolyn Brown: BBC Radio 4 newsreader
• Roger Harrabin: BBC's Environment Analyst

Carolyn Brown: The leaders of the three main political parties in Westminster say that they will work together to fight climate change, whatever the result of the election. In a joint statement, David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg say climate change is one of the most serious threats facing the world today, not just to the environment but also to security, poverty eradication and economic prosperity. They say they will stick by the UN - UK's climate change targets. Here's our Environment Analyst, Roger Harrabin.

Roger Harrabin: In the US, Australia and Canada, climate change is a partisan matter - parties on the left tend to accept the science, those on the right say climate change fears have been exaggerated. They want fossil fuels to continue to drive the economy. Not in the UK - a remarkable consensus on climate science and the need for action to cut emissions gave birth in 2008 to a world-leading Climate Change Act, passed overwhelmingly in Parliament. In the past few years, the Prime Minister's been pressed by some of his backbenchers and newspaper owners to scrap the Act - they say it'll push up energy bills and make Britain uncompetitive. By joining Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg in this agreement, David Cameron has committed the UK to a low-carbon economy, in which coal-burning, in the usual way, will play no part.