Comment on 25 year environment plan

Plan rightly highlights importance on ‘negative emissions’, says Richard Black

By George Smeeton

info@eciu.net

Commenting on the Government’s 25-year plan for the environment, published today, Richard Black, director of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said:

Theresa May published the Government's 25 year plan for the environment with a speech today in London. Image: Number 10

“Climate science is pretty clear now that to keep global warming well below 2 Celsius, the goal of the Paris Agreement, governments are going to have to do much more than ending coal burning and building out clean energy.

“We’re going to need some form of ‘negative emissions’ – measures that draw carbon dioxide from the air. And doing this naturally, through things such as restoring soil, restoring peat and planting trees, is by far the easiest option, as well as providing lots of other benefits.

“So, the Government’s focus on these issues makes sense – it’s consistent with climate science, and forward-looking – but the plan is light on detail, something that ministers are going to have to address in the next few years.”