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Tighter Emissions Targets Attacked by CBI
The backing by Chris Huhne, the energy secretary, for a toughening of European Union emissions targets has been attacked by the CBI, which has warned it will entail “huge costs”, “huge repercussions” and will “jeopardise and potentially damage” businesses across the economy.
Richard Lambert, CBI director-general, set out several arguments against hardening the targets, including that a unilateral tightening would create an uneven playingfield and that businesses affected by the recession could not cope with additional costs.
Mr Lambert wrote: “Europe must not overburden its companies with unilateral climate protection constraints . . . Our companies are in global competition and are able to locate production globally.”
The move came as the TUC and the Energy Intensive Users Group, representing companies with high energy needs, said energy prices could more than double by 2020 under the government’s climate policies, a surge that “would jeopardise the future competitiveness” of industries employing 225,000 people.
The row is over whether the EU should stick to its goal of cutting emissions by 20 per cent by 2020, or endorse a far more ambitious 30 per cent reduction by the same date.
Read more at TGWPF: CBI attacks plan to tighten emissions targets