Defining dangerous climate change - A call for consistency

Following on from the Committee on Climate Change’s (CCC) recent announcement on aviation emissions, this Tyndall Briefing Note contrasts the CCC’s position on dangerous climate change with that enshrined in much of the UK Government’s climate change literature. It finds that whilst a perfunctory assessment of the two may suggest little difference, closer examination reveals a fundamental divergence in the rate at which emissions need to be reduced, with stark implications for the appropriateness or otherwise of low-carbon policies. This is clearly illustrated in the CCC’s acceptance of significant emissions from aviation in 2050 being potentially compatible with ‘avoiding dangerous climate change’; a position that cannot be reconciled with the interpretation of ‘dangerous’ forthcoming from Government.