The car's 11% contribution to the UK's 2% contribution to global man-made CO₂ emissions has been placed at the forefront of government attempts to meet arbitrary emissions targets and deadlines in a strategy announced by Lord Adonis 1.
 
There is a growing body of international academic opinion 2 pointing to the fact that CO₂ targets don't and won't work as a tool for reducing CO₂ emissions, regardless of what science currently does or doesn't tell us about the causes or future trajectory of climate change. Instead, efficiency and technology should dictate the pace of decarbonisation of economic growth. Carbon taxes should be low and policy should also include adaptation to inevitable climate change. Most importantly, policy should be based on the uncertainty of future climate change, which could include significant global cooling, rather than on unverifiable computer modelled alarmism presented as fact 3. Emissions targets will inevitably require unacceptable political forces, as opposed to the politically feasible policy proposed by the 12 international academics in their 6th July paper entitled 'How to get climate policy back on course.'
 
ABD Environment spokesman Paul Biggs said,

"Energy and transport policies are being blighted by CO₂ emissions targets that are unachievable without restrictive laws and a huge amount of financial pain for no climate gain. We have a new type of climate sceptic emerging that questions the policy rather than the science. Adopting the policies outlined by Professor Gwyn Prins and his 11 co-authors would enable significant decarbonisation of economic growth without leaving the government open to accusations of having ulterior motives that include the likes of social engineering and high taxation. With a general election due in 2010, a future 'open-eyed' government will have a clear choice of following policies lacking political feasibility that are doomed to fail 4, or politically feasible policies that have worked in the past."