The British government will publish a long-awaited bill on tackling climate change in the forthcoming session of parliament, Queen Elizabeth II announced Wednesday. One of the key tenets of Prime Minister Tony Blair's final few months in office will therefore involve attempting to set a legacy on slowing global warming — which his Downing Street office has branded "the biggest long-term threat that we now face".
The queen made the announcement before lawmakers in the upper House of Lords during the annual State Opening of Parliament in London, where she presented her government's legislative programme for the forthcoming session.
"My government will publish a bill on climate change as part of its policy to protect the environment, consistent with the need to secure long-term energy supplies," the monarch said.
The bill is expected to set in law a goal of slashing Britain's carbon dioxide emissions by 60 percent of 1990 levels by 2050 and is expected to establish an independent carbon advisory committee for ministers.
A government-commissioned report published earlier this month on the price of climate change said global warming could cost the world's economies up to 20 percent of their gross domestic product if no action is taken now.
The study, by former World Bank chief economist Sir Nicholas Stern, said combatting global warming now would cost about one percent of GDP.
Stern also recommended a huge expansion of carbon-emissions trading networks such as that set up by the 25-nation European Union bloc, which aim to limit pollution by allowing industries to buy and sell their emission rights.
The main opposition Conservatives have forced climate change up the political agenda in the 11 months under new leader David Cameron.
The government's bill is likely to meet with resistance, as both the Conservatives and the smaller Liberal Democrats support annual targets for carbon emission reductions.
"Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing us today, and we can only tackle it if we realise that we all have a responsibility to act — individuals, businesses and government," Cameron said Tuesday.
"The government must deliver a proper climate change bill in the queen's speech," he said, fearing a "watered down version".
Blair has vowed to step down by September 2007.
Source: Agence France-Presse
