Too Good To Be True? The UK's Climate Change Record

At first glance Britain has one of the best records in Europe on climate change; greenhouse gas emissions fell in the 1990s and it has already surpassed its 2012 Kyoto target. This paper examines whether the claimed superiority of Britain's approach is solidly based on performance, or whether it owes much to the accounting methodology for measuring emissions. It sets out the UK's official record in managing the production of greenhouse gases within the UK's borders and considers the drivers of its performance to date- notably - the dash-for-gas in electricity generation; and de-industrialisation, as the UK moved away from energy-intensive manufacturing towards services.

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