On this day in 1998 a report “Climate change : a strategic issue for business” was presented to British Prime Minister Tony Blair
An “Advisory Committee on Business and the Environment” had been asked to come up with the usual soothing words and blandishments and so it had delivered.
Blair had come to power with a promise to reduce CO2 emissions by 20 per cent by 2010. This at the time looked not too tricky because emissions were on a downward trend. But, oops, that was because of a) switching from coal to gas for some electricity generation and b) offshoring manufacturing. And things got trickier and trickier. Turns out promises are easy, delivery not so much…
Why this matters
We should at least remember some of the past promises and glossy reports when looking at the new promises and glossy reports
What happened next
The emissions reduction target got pushed up to 60% by 2050 in 2003 or so (and then 80% b 2050 as part of the Climate Change Act 2008).
And the atmospheric concentrations continue to climb. Ha ha ha.