Environmental legislation to shift clocks 'could reduce climate change'

If the environmental legislation to shift the clocks forward by one hour permanently was given the go ahead, this would help reduce the effects of climate change.

This is the opinion of Daniel Vockins, campaign manager at Lighter Later, who suggested that the UK would consume significantly less carbon dioxide and other fossil fuels if it had more hours of sunshine.

He was speaking after the Daylight Savings Bill received its second reading in the House of Commons last week, which posits that the government should conduct research into the savings of pushing the clock forward and if it found there are significant benefits, a trial change would occur.

Mr Vockins said that by making these developments, we would be able to improve the environment.

He quoted research from the University of Cambridge, which showed that nearly half a million tonnes of carbon dioxide would be cut by reducing the need for lighting.

Mr Vockins added that by consuming less electricity, "we would also be reducing peak demand on the grid", as well as use "less of our dirtiest power stations".

Posted by Lauren Steadman