The Environmental Audit Committee has today published a report: ‘Beyond Stern: From the Climate Change Programme Review to the Draft Climate Change Bill’. The report argues the following:
- carbon emissions reductions targets must be increased to reflect the latest science
- the Committee on Climate Change should be given a stronger role
- international aviation and shipping emissions must be included within the UKs targets
- the Government should focus more on total amount of carbon emissions the UK can “safely” emit over the next forty years, rather than on simply hitting annual emissions targets in individual target years

The committee recommends that the requirment to report on adaptation to climate change is accompanied by a Government programme of action on adaptation in the UK and that this should include an international development strategy which works to address the impact of climate change on the world’s poorest and most vulnerable communities.