The UK Government has just increased its carbon reduction goal from 34 per cent by 2020 to 50 per cent by 2025. The announcement makes the UK the first country in the world to have declared a ‘legally binding’ target on greenhouse gas emissions beyond 2020.

Just last year though, Cambridge Econometrics predicted that the UK will miss the lower target unless the new coalition government implements strong policies promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency, a view that is echoed by the National Audit Office.

What is more, the UK missed its 2010 renewable energy target, producing 6.5 per cent rather […]