There are two government departments that are responsible for
dealing with aspects of climate change:
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs (Defra) for climate change adaptation
and
The Department of Energy and Climate
Change (DECC) for climate change mitigation.
Recent policies and legislation include:
The
Climate Change Act, which establishes a legally
binding target for the UK to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80%
by 2050 (from 1990 levels) and creates the Committee on
Climate Change.
The
Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC), which establishes a
mandatory emissions trading scheme that will affect large
organisations both in the public and private sector. The CRC is
expected to be passed into law in late 2009.
The UK
Low Carbon Transition Plan, which plots out
how the UK will meet the aspired cut in greenhouse gas
emissions of 34% on 1990 levels by 2020.