CLIMATE CHANGE

Global warming has become the most prominent environmental issue of our times. Growing public awareness of the effects of elevated global temperatures has been driven by clear signs around the world that climate change is already happening.

From the UK Stern Review in 2006 to the latest reports from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), stark warnings are coming from scientific and economic experts that climate change is a reality and that the consequences to our society will be significant. Governments around the world are taking action in the form of legislation, such as the UK’s Climate Change Bill and the European Union’s 2007 target of a 20% reduction in emissions by 2020.

Individual countries, regions and states, such as California, have ambitious plans for action. But how can these challenging obligations be achieved? Mechanisms such as emissions trading schemes have an important role to play. However, renewable energy technologies have huge potential to assist in meeting reduction targets. Making greater use of wind and solar power, geothermal energy, biomass and marine technologies such as tidal and wave power, represents one of our best strategies for meeting the climate change challenge, whilst also helping to secure the availability and security of future energy supplies.

For more information please download our report: GLOBAL WARMING, a guide to its origins and effects