Downing Street Says » Stern Report

» Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Stern Report

Asked what the next steps were post-Stern and whether the Germans would need persuading on Friday, the PMOS said, as way of background, we had initiated several things before Stern: Gleneagles; then the Gleneagles plus five dialogue, which had made real progress in Mexico; now we would see the German Presidency of the G8 where Chancellor Merkel had already indicated that energy would be one of the subjects for that. We would obviously want to discuss with the Germans how they took that forward. The informal summit at Lahti had been very interesting in this regard. The joint letter that the Prime Minister and Prime Minister Balkenende of the Netherlands had sent now represented the consensus of European thinking on this subject. Climate Change and energy security were two sides of the same coin. There was the need to give the signal to the private sector and lever into R&D to get the new technology we needed. The other side was bringing in those who had not signed up to Kyoto, which meant not just the USA but also India and China. Hence the G8 +5 discussions.

Asked whether we were happy with the way the carbon-trading scheme was working, the PMOS said that the operation of any scheme always needed refining as it developed. Interestingly the idea of bringing in aviation in the European scheme was now being seriously considered. Asked whether that would happen before 2008, the PMOS said that it was best to let the discussion continue, but it was interesting that people were now seriously discussing the post 2012 framework and stabilisation goals. The debate had moved on in a quantum leap over the past year. The Stern Report would push it that bit further again. Asked whether 2008 was an achievable objective, the PMOS said we would have to see where things got to but the ambition was clear.

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