Our aim is simple – to prevent as many tonnes of emissions from entering the atmosphere as possible, as quickly as possible.

We are working in a number of different ways to achieve this goal.

Over the last three years our focus has been on trying to improve the policy framework of the European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). This is the most extensive and potentially powerful climate policy in existence anywhere in the world to date. But it is currently not working properly having been watered down by industry lobbying and a lack of political ambition.

Our main ask is that the legally binding caps set on industries responsible for producing around half of Europe’s carbon dioxide emissions (around 2 billion tonnes per year) are tightened. We use analysis of how the EU ETS is working on the ground to back up our demands and lobby at a UK and European level to secure political support for change. Our latest reports can be found here.

In the past we have also hosted a public petition to enable members of the public and other NGOs to add their names to a call for more action. In the future we are seeking to work more closely with other groups such as Avaaz who deliver public facing campaigns on a much greater scale than we can at the moment.

Obviously it is not possible to stop climate change by Europe taking action on its own. We need to show genuine leadership but this global problem needs a global solution. The UN process of negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are moving ahead, albeit very slowly, and we hope a new agreement will be signed before the current one (the Kyoto Protocol) ends at the end of 2012. In the meantime, we believe the global emissions curve can be relatively easily reversed if we focus on targeted action in the sector of the global economy that can do the most to cut emissions quickly – the global power sector. Our Global campaign pages explain what we are calling on world leaders to agree.

Even without a global deal many countries are moving forward with plans and policies to decarbonise their economies – we are currently in the process of mapping where action is happening on the ground to introduce carbon caps on emissions and hope to have this new resource ready shortly.

For those who may be frustrated by the slow pace of change in the policy sphere, we also provide a way to take action directly by enabling individuals and companies to buy and destroy emissions permits – reducing the caps a tonne at a time by taking permits off the market.