100+ Firms Call on Government not to Abandon Carbon Targets

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• 100+ Firms Call on Government not to Abandon Carbon Targets

16 December 2013 | Updated 01 January 1970

Sodexo, the intergrated facilities management provider, has joined an alliance of more than 100 organisations from across the UK economy and civil society urging the Government to follow the advice of the Committee on Climate Change calling on the Government to stick to its emission reduction objectives under the Fourth Carbon Budget.

This budget covers the emission reduction that the UK needs to deliver over the years 2023 to 2027 to stay on track for reducing its emissions by at least 80 per cent by 2050 under its Climate Change Act.

In a statement which coincided with the publication yesterday of the Committee on Climate Change’s updated recommendations on the Fourth Carbon Budget, the alliance called on the Government ‘to stick to ambitious emission reduction objectives for the 2020s to give business the certainty it needs to commit significant investments to the UK’s promising low-carbon economy and maintain the UK’s energy security’.

Paul Bracegirdle, environmental manager at Sodexo, said: “Sodexo (which is a facilities management provider across more than 2,000 sites in the UK and Ireland) acknowledges its responsibility towards the protection of the environment. Through our sustainability strategy the Better Tomorrow Plan, we are committed to implementing practices and policies to minimise energy use and carbon emissions up to 2020, so it’s crucial that policymakers maintain long-term carbon reduction targets to support our future efforts.”

Lord Adair Turner, Senior Fellow of the Institute of New Economic Thinking and ex-chairman of the Committee on Climate Change, (and ex-Chairman of the Financial Services Authority and ex-Director General of the CBI), said: “The majority of the business world is clear that ambitious and stable action to tackle climate change makes business sense. A stable policy environment is critical to attracting investment in the low-carbon sector, reducing the costs of new technologies like offshore wind and creating significant growth opportunities for the UK economy in areas where we currently lead the clean energy race. The time has come to give to the decarbonisation agenda the importance and stability it deserves.”

More information can be found on the WWF website.

Article written by Brian Shillibeer | Published 16 December 2013

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