Commenting on the evidence given by the Committee on Climate Change to the DECC Select Committee today, Steve Radley, Director of Policy at EEF, the manufacturers' organisation, said:

"Manufacturers will be concerned that the body advising government on the UK's carbon reduction targets is effectively justifying offshoring emissions and jobs to China. The assertion, from the CCC that increasing emissions from China is acceptable because "they are manufacturing for the rest of the world" and "doing there what we don't do here any longer", is deeply worrying.

"Furthermore, the assertion that the CCC has not received any specific suggestions as to why the Carbon Budget could be changed, runs counter to representation made by EEF, which argued that the Government's 2011 commitment to align the UK with the EU trajectory in 2014 provides justification for a budget amendment.

"As a result, we would again call on government to take a hard edged review of the Committee on Climate Change's evidence before making its decision on whether to continue with targets that are clearly out of step with our European negotiating partners."

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