UK aims greener and greener

The UK considers itself as a leader in the fight against climate change. A raft of new plans might put substance behind the boast. Derek Brower reports

TARGETS and more targets. Western governments have been accused for years now of talking a lot of hot air when they tell the world how they will deal with hot air. Last month's G8 summit did not even manage a theoretical ambition for emissions reductions. The leaders of the world's richest nations declared that they "recognise the scientific view that the increase in global average temperature above pre-industrial levels ought not to exceed 2°C." There were no concrete proposals to accompany the words. As some commentators noted, next they will be commanding the waves to go back. Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), liked the sentiment