The Big Ask was a campaign by
Friends of the Earth calling for a new climate change law in the United Kingdom and 15 other EU member states. The
United Kingdom Government
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announced the introduction of the
Climate Change Bill in the
Queen's Speech on 15 November 2006. This was after 130,000 people across the country had asked their
MP to support such a bill.
Radiohead frontman
Thom Yorke
Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been descri ...
was a spokesperson for the campaign.
UK Climate Change Bill
This law is intended to tackle the main cause of
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
— emissions of
carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is trans ...
gas.
The law that Friends of the Earth are calling for would require the UK Government to cut the amounts of carbon dioxide being released by 3% year on year.
The Big Ask reasoning is:
*All the major political parties say climate change is the biggest threat we face
*They all have ambitious targets for cutting carbon dioxide (20% by 2010, 60% by 2050)
*Yet emissions of carbon dioxide in the UK keep on rising
*The UK needs to show leadership in showing that climate change can be tackled
*The Climate Change Bill is the best way of doing this
Draft bill
The Government has now produced a Draft Climate Change Bill with a closing date for responses on 12 June 2007.
The Big Ask Campaign has entered its next stage and is campaigning to make the Bill stronger than the Draft Bill. People are being asked to lobby their MPs again to ask them to support a Bill that will:
*reduce emissions every year so the UK reaches a target of at least 80% cuts by 2050
* include annual targets so politicians can't blame preceding Governments for missed targets
* include emissions from international aviation and shipping
Big Ask Web March
In 2007 the Big Ask has created a Big Ask Web March.
People are invited to upload short video clips calling for a strong Climate Change Bill.
See also
*
Climate change in the United Kingdom
Climate change in the United Kingdom is impacting the country's environment and human population in many ways. The country's climate is becoming warmer, with drier summers and wetter winters. The frequency and intensity of storms, floods, droug ...
References
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Friends of the Earth
2007 in the environment
2007 in the United Kingdom
Climate change in the United Kingdom