| Legality question is a smokescreen: government must not delay on emissions performance standards in the UK |
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02 December | Press release The government should not be permitted to frustrate swift progress in establishing an emissions performance standard (EPS) for UK power on the back of long out-of-date legal queries, ClientEarth warns. The environmental law organisation is concerned that legal questions in today’s energy select committee’s report on EPS for UK power stations could give the government an unjustified excuse to push back the introduction of a standard. The committee’s recommendations (para 106) call on the government to clarify the legality of a national UK EPS under EU law, but ClientEarth says that legality was confirmed beyond doubt with the amendment earlier this year to an EU emissions law; the Industrial Emissions Directive. Evidence from power companies querying the legality of emissions performance standards is an artificial attempt to create uncertainty and delays. ClientEarth provided evidence during the creation of the House of Commons report and has long-standing expertise on the legality and statutory design of emissions performance standards. David Holyoake, climate and energy lawyer at ClientEarth, says: “It is concerning that the select committee has given credence to generators’ questions about the legality of an emissions standard in the UK. There is no uncertainty, and the debate should have moved on: EU rules allow for member states to go further in their efforts to limit CO2 emissions than required by EU law. “The committee’s proposals for an EPS have the potential to make the UK a leader in limiting the CO2 impact of power generation, and the government needs to make swift and effective progress.” ENDS For all media enquiries contact: Mike Haines | Communications officer | t. +44 (0) 207 749 5978 | m. +44 (0) 7841 918 770 | e. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Notes to editors ClientEarth is a non-profit environmental law organisation based in London, Brussels, Paris and Warsaw. We are lawyers working at the interface of law, science and policy. Using the power of the law, we develop legal strategies and tools to address major environmental issues. As legal experts working in the public interest, we act to strengthen the work of our partners – both governments and NGOs. www.clientearth.org ClientEarth’s evidence to the select committee during the consultation on this report is available at: http://www.clientearth.org/clientearth-responds-to-uk-consultation-on-emmissions-performance-standards Today’s select committee report is available at: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/advance/4_thursday/0001/done/pa/cm201011/cmselect/cmenergy/523/52308.htm ClientEarth welcomes the Committee's conclusion that implementing a UK EPS is justified as a necessary measure to achieve several objectives in a transparent and predictable fashion. The report correctly concludes that an EPS can provide necessary investment certainty and prevent lock in to high carbon infrastructure, and that, coupled with market reform measures, EPS has high potential to ensure the widespread deployment of CCS technology in the future. We also welcome the Committee’s findings that the prompt introduction of a UK EPS would have positive reverberations within the EU, advance the UK’s position as a leader on climate change, and send a strong message to the international community by delivering on the government’s commitment to regulate CO2 from the power sector. |
