UK Leads The Way In Carbon Reduction Targets

The UK is in a stronger position than most European Union (EU) countries to keep up with proposed tougher green targets, according to analysts. But Simon Mingay, Gartner research vice president, said any position of leadership for the UK still fell a long way short of meeting even current EU targets.

eWEEK Europe spoke to Mingay about his analysis of the viability of cutting a further 10 percent from carbon emissions by 2020, issued earlier this week by the European Commission.

Cutting emissions won’t be cheap

The Commission on Wednesday presented its analysis of the costs, benefits and options for moving beyond the EU’s current greenhouse gas reduction target for 2020 from 20 percent below 1990 levels to 30 percent once the conditions are met.

But the analysis pointed out that cutting an extra 10 percent from EU emissions would cost European business a further £33 billion per year and that, at present, the conditions for reaching the 20-percent target have not been met.

EU emissions last year, it said, were 14 percent below their 1990 level.

“The UK has already taken some steps towards reducing its carbon emissions and does have the Carbon Reduction Commitment, which means it’s doing better than most [other EU countries],” Mingay said. “But progress has still been incredibly slow.”

Targets are one thing, tangible action is another

He added that, currently, it was “mostly academic” whether the EU agreed higher targets or not. “What’s really required are not marginal improvements, but improvements that are much greater in order of magnitude.”

Reflecting on the role IT has, and could have, to play in meeting any EU targets, Mingay said that the battle was not to get IT vendors to develop more energy efficient technologies, but in getting European businesses to invest in them.

On the whole, he said most IT vendors had embraced increased pressure to develop technology that could use energy more efficiently and intelligently.

“It’s not a question of ‘if they build it’ that the businesses will come,” he said. “But most organisations, as they get engaged with carbon efficiency measures, actually discover they can save money as well.”

 But Mingay bemoaned the fact that there was “no burning imperative” for organisations to take on such measures. If they did, IT would play a central role, he added.

“Just look at the cloud,” he said. “It has huge potential to introduce more energy efficient IT to organisations.”

The UK’s coalition government has yet to respond to the Commission’s analysis, but may encounter some difficulty agreeing common ground. The Liberal Democrats EU’s plan had proposed adopting a 30-percent target “unilaterally and immediately,” which the Conservatives opposed, arguing that it would hamper any return to economic growth.