Ed Miliband proposes ambitious plans for Paris

Labour’s propositions for net zero global emissions face disapproval from developing nations and carbon intensive economies.

Ed Miliband’s has revealed former Deputy Prime Minister Lord Prescott will act as his official climate change adviser in the run-up to the next Paris summit later this year.

He says: "His abilities and experience, as one of the architects of the Kyoto protocol in 1997, must be used at this critical time for our future and there is no one better than John at bashing heads together to get a deal".

Miliband argued that a new agreement at the December Paris Summit must work toward a “strong coalition”.

The new treaty is expected to support national governments expressing their own climate action plans and emission targets. Miliband’s goals are in sequence to the proposed structure for the new treaty.

He expresses that the Paris meeting should encourage ambitious emission targets for all countries and a system to re-evaluate them against the international 2C temperature goal every 5 years. His goals are in sequence to the proposal structure for the new treaty.

He also declared a goal to deliver “net zero global emissions” in the second half of the century. However, this proposal faces significant opposition from some developing nations as well as carbon intensive economies.

In addition he called for “transparent” and “universal” rules to determine national emission levels and "an equitable deal in which richer countries provide support to poorer nations in their efforts to combat climate change". But disagreements stand between what constitutes as “equitable” between rich and poor nations.

Miliband said that Labour would seek to sustain the green economy by providing businesses with the strategies they require.

"The last Labour government was the first in the world to put carbon targets into law. The next Labour government will commit Britain to making our electricity supply carbon free by 2030. The last Labour government helped to create new markets for thousands of British companies and more than a million new jobs in the green sector. The next Labour government will give business certainty to invest so we can create another million such jobs over the next decade".

Furthermore, the Lib Dems have agreed to support a decarbonistion target for the power sector, while Prime Minister David Cameron committed to working with other parties to deliver new carbon targets after the election.