DEFRA is the result of the Carbon Reduction Commitment, which was born with the Climate Change Act in 2008. As a legally binding legislative that certainly has teeth, DEFRA is a swift British move in addressing climate change with conviction.
The DEFRA carbon approach resulted in the Carbon Reduction Commitment, a child of the Climate Change Act of 2008. The British certainly moved quickly on this to meet what are termed carbon budgets for the first years of the program. The CRC is an innovative climate change and energy saving program which has been designed to create a quantum shift away from traditional thinking.
Many observers worldwide have been impressed by the DEFRA carbon approach and by the speed with which the British government has worked to consolidate its position and to move beyond the traditional restraints of the European Union. Should their program be successful, it is likely to be copied in many different parts of the world.
The Carbon Reduction Commitment is designed to place a financial incentive on carbon emission reduction by, for the first time, establishing carbon as a commodity and fixing a price per ton. The government points out that this shall benefit those who are compelled to get involved and should not be taken as a burden.
Benefits given by the UK government to the participants of the DEFRA carbon scheme might reach to about $1 Billion by 2020. Any revenues derived from the scheme will be neutral to the exchequer, the UK version of the Treasury Department. Revenues will be recycled to participants in this way.
While the government is ready to encourage and provide financial incentives, in a sense at least, it is not afraid to wield a stick in addition to dangling the carrot. Participants in the DEFRA carbon scheme known as the Carbon Reduction Commitment may face reputational harm if they are not able, for one reason or another, to perform well in terms of carbon reduction. A league table will be published for all to see and judge.
It is expected that approximately 20,000 organizations will participate in CRC in different initiatives, but out of this number, only 5,000 shall be required to participate actively through regular documentation and monitoring of carbon emissions and through purchasing allowances from the government.
The UK has taken the lead in the fight against global warming and climate change by introducing sweeping legislation which is designed to commence in April of 2010. The goal is to achieve carbon equivalent emissions reduction to at least 4MTCO2 every year in 10 years. Compared to a 1990 baseline, this is a reduction of about 26% of greenhouse gas emissions, yet represents only the start of a push to huge reductions by the year 2050.