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14 | 4TH - 10TH DECEMBER 2015 | UTILITY WEEK Policy & Regulation A bumpy road to Paris When it comes to energy and climate change, the UK always seems to be torn in different directions. The home front T he road to Paris has been a bumpy one for the UK. In climate talks – as in energy policy generally – conflict- ing interests, contradictions and cross-party opposition have dogged the debate. The official government message is that the UK will push hard for an ambitious global climate deal. But domestic develop- ments threaten to undermine the credibility of the government's stance following a flurry of moves that have le parts of the sector reeling. The UK's climate goals are covered by a joint EU pledge to cut Europe-wide emis- sions by at least 40 per cent on 1990 levels by 2030. On top of this, the UK's 2008 Cli- mate Change Act binds it to reduce its emis- sions by 80 per cent on 1990 levels by 2050. But UK energy secretary Amber Rudd has backed further progress, setting out in a letter to the Energy and Climate Change Committee calls for: l an ambitious global deal to mitigate climate change; l a five-yearly cycle of reviews that would provide the opportunity to reflect on progress and increase ambition; l legally-binding rules to help ensure trans- parency and accountability; l a long-term goal that will provide a clear signal of the commitment to a low-carbon future and help provide certainty for investment at the scale required; l an effective climate finance offer to bring all nations on board and to support the most vulnerable to take action towards moving to a low-carbon economy and against the impacts of climate change. "We are committed to getting a global deal in Paris, which will create a level play- ing field for businesses, driving innovation and growing the low carbon economy," a spokesman for Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) said. These words stand somewhat in contrast with moves by Decc and the Treasury in the recent "reset" of energy policy and govern- ment spending. Shortly aer the general election, Rudd stood accused of undermining investor confidence by slashing subsidy payouts for renewable energy and backing a renewed dash for gas in generation and shale explo- ration. Furthermore, when she took to the stage of the Conservative party conference in September the Paris talks, just two months away, received no mention at all. Chancellor George Osborne's spending review offered more bad news for climate campaigners, as Decc's budget took a heavy hit alongside energy efficiency, renewable heat and carbon capture and storage, the latter seeing the government's £1 billion support being pulled. It's an uncomfortable platform from which to address 190 nations as a "climate change leader". The UK will be leaning on its Electricity Market Reform legacy as a means of creating a framework for low-car- bon investment, and Rudd's latest proposal to ban coal generation from 2025. In addition, Osborne has offered a doubling of Decc's innovation programme to £500 million over five years and a £1.7 billion share of the government's £5.8 billion International Climate Fund, which will help the poorest countries decarbonise and adapt to the effects of climate change. But it still falls short of former Labour party leader Ed Miliband's call for a zero- emissions economy by 2050, and set against the backdrop of the Conservatives' "un- greening" may well raise eyebrows around the negotiating tables. Previous summits 1995: COP1 – Berlin Resulted in the Berlin Man- date, by which member states decided to establish a process to negotiate strengthened climate commitments. 1997: COP3 – Kyoto COP3 saw 83 nations sign up to the famous Kyoto Protocol, which set legally binding emis- sions targets for each country. 2003: COP9 – Milan Two funds (the Special Climate Change Fund and the Least Developed Countries Fund) were developed to support the transfer of technology, adapta- tion projects and other activi- ties. 2007: COP13 – Bali Attendees adopted the Bali Roadmap, a two-year process aiming at paving the way for a new strengthened agreement. 2009: COP15 – Copenhagen This summit should have resulted in the Bali Roadmap coming to fruition. It didn't. 2010: COP16 – Cancun The Green Climate Fund established to assist develop- ing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change. 2012: COP 18 – Doha A timetable agreed to adopt a universal climate agreement by 2015, to come into effect in 2020. 2014: COP20 – Lima These discussions resulted in the drafting of the Lima Call for Cli- mate Action, a document outlining the shared goals and policy options which will provide the frame- work for a global deal in Paris in 2015. "The challenges currently posed by climate change pale in significance com- pared with what might come." Bank of England governor Mark Carney "We cannot make progress towards cli- mate change safety while we are unravel- ling all the policies at home that will help us shift towards a low-carbon economy." Shadow energy secretary Lisa Nandy