Cameron claims UK is on track to meet climate goals

UK Prime Minister David Cameron spoke at the UN Climate Summit in New York on Tuesday and claimed that the country is on track to reduce carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.

He called for support for the private sector and developing countries to assist them in their low-carbon efforts.

Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General, hosted the New York summit that was attended by over 120 of the world’s leaders.

The summit was designed to support the UNFCCC COP21 summit in Paris in late 2015 when a binding deal is expected to be finalised a deal to slow rising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Cameron said: “We now need the whole world though to step up to deliver a new, ambitious, global deal which keeps the 2 degree goal within reach. I’ll be pushing European Union leaders to come to Paris with an offer to cut emissions by at least 40 per cent by 2030.”

Cameron said Britain has committed to raising £4 billion of climate finance over five years.

Cameron continued: “We must provide support to those who need it, particularly the poorest and most vulnerable. It is completely unrealistic to expect developing countries to forgo the high carbon route to growth that so many Western countries enjoyed, unless we support them to achieve green growth. We need to give business the certainty it needs to invest in low carbon. That means fighting against the economically and environmentally perverse fossil fuel subsidies, which distort free markets and rip off taxpayers. It means championing green free trade, slashing tariffs on things like solar panels. And it means giving business the flexibility to pick the right technologies for their needs. In short we need a framework built on green growth not green tape.”