Victory for Environmental Campaigners

The climate change debate in the UK entered a new phase this week with the introduction of a draft climate change bill. The bill calls for an independent panel to set ministers a carbon budget every five years, in a bid to cut emissions by 60% by 2050.

The opposition Tories have already outlined their "green proposals" and over the weekend EU leaders agreed to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20% by the year 2020.

As some analysts have suggested, climate change looks set to become a vote issue come the next election. Politicians seem to believe that the public is concerned about the threats posed by global warming and want to see them do something about it - a belief that appears to be shared by big businesses as well.

This belief seems to be fuelled by the belief that the public is more aware and concerned about their environment, thanks to abundant information available from the media and the internet. Information about issues that were in the past viewed as too technical for people outside the scientific community to grasp, can now be found on the internet explained in simple terms.

It can be argued that this has given the public some power of sorts. They have now joined environmentalists in questioning activities that are deemed environmentally unfriendly or unethical.

I think the moves being taken by governments and politicians to address environmental issues proves that business leaders and politicians alike feel threatened by those who question their use of power and ethics. Should we say thanks to successful lobbying by environmental campaigners?