The former director of the Tyndall Centre, the UK's leading academic climate change research organisation, talks about climate politics and his hopes for a global deal on reducing emissions by the end of 2015. The EU has not developed internal policies that are in any way consistent with its repeated and expressed goals of avoiding the 2C characterisation of dangerous climate change. The EU is now aiming for what it says is an ambitious target of a 40% reduction in emissions by 2030. Regions like the US, EU and Australia would need to reduce their emissions at a much faster rate than even the EU is considering. The UK has been seen as a leader on climate change since the passing of the Climate Change Act in 2008. But is it now in danger of failing to meet its commitments. To its credit the UK does have carbon budgets, but, unlike the 80% target for 2050 outlined in the Climate Change Act, they are not enshrined in law. The long-term, 2050 targets are irrelevant and worse still misleading in relation to climate change. The only thing that matters is the build-up of greenhouse gases, particularly CO2, in the atmosphere, in other words carbon budgets. The problem with the UK’s 2050 80% target is that it allows us to think that we can do things tomorrow that we failed to do today. If no agreement is reached in Paris next year, there may be increasing pressure on the government to repeal the Act itself. And even if the Act remains, I think the influence of the Committee on Climate Change may be reduced, and there is a risk that it could be abolished. Another issue is how China faces to the problem. A big point for China is the issue of infrastructure development. When China constructs airports, ports, roads or buildings it is currently locking in very high energy-use and hence carbon futures, as even China will not be able to transition to low-carbon energy sources at sufficient rate. There is still faith in the UN process; especially there is the intention to continue with the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) and related processes. But there are other things; the UK’s Climate Change Act was a separate process, outside of the UNFCCC, as were the EU negotiations. It’s a mistake to think that these can’t be designed to complement the UN negotiations. Ultimately however, if you are serious about climate change as a global problem then a global framework is necessary to understand the collective implications of everyone’s efforts. The gLAWcal Team EPSEI project Monday, 10 November 2014 (Source: China Dialogue)