UK's imports create air pollution

Despite the UK's attempts to reduce air pollution by cutting down on carbon dioxide emissions, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) has found that emissions have actually risen. The CCC has found - during a recent report - that although production emissions are down 20 per cent over the last two decades, overall emissions have risen by ten per cent. This rise is due to the import of goods that create CO2 emissions in the goods' countries of origin.

The UK has placed massive importance on cutting emissions at home - with alternative energy sources and the funding of new research into energy efficient alternatives. However the UK is now the second highest global importer of embodied emissions - emissions created in another country due to the manufacture of items for export. Each individual person living within the UK is responsible for twice as many imported emissions as an individual in Germany - which has maintained its manufacturing base.

It has been argued that the UK should ensure that it is reporting its total emissions - not just its production emissions - so as to give a clearer picture of the true effectiveness of its fight against air pollution. The CCC has said that it is incredibly difficult to quantify the amount of imported emissions and even more so to influence the climate policies of other countries which the UK imports goods from.

David Kennedy, the CCC's chief executive, said: "High levels of imported emissions reflect the need for emissions reductions in other countries if climate objectives are to be achieved. We should focus on reducing the emissions produced in the UK, and proactively supporting an international agreement to reduce global emissions, following which our imported emissions would fall."

Kennedy has said that the implementation of border tariffs on CO2 embodied goods could be a temporary measure whilst a global emissions agreement was negotiated.

The CCC report did find - contrary to the opinion of many lobbyists - that the UK's fight against air pollution has not meant a loss in manufacturing jobs, in favour of creating jobs abroad. It found that few jobs are being lost at present, as the main manufacturing re-shuffle - which saw industrial jobs being moved abroad - happened throughout the 1980s and has not been repeated due to current climate change policies. Carbon policies are not currently affecting industrial jobs within the UK.