Carbon curbs will need to get tougher, warns Benn

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"I think the science is getting clearer and clearer," he said in an exclusive Evening Standard interview. "We have less time to act than was thought to be the case."

Mr Benn's comments will alarm motorists already fuming at higher taxes on gas-guzzling cars. They come before tonight's debate on the Government's Climate Change Bill, organised by pressure group Friends of the Earth and chaired by the Standard's Anne McElvoy, where he will be called on to justify legislation that green groups criticise for being too tame.

His critics want a target written into the Bill for an 80 per cent cut in carbon emissions by 2050 instead of the current figure of 60 per cent. And they are furious the target ignores carbon pumped out by aircraft and shipping.

Mr Benn said the independent committee on climate change will make recommendations by the end of the year on whether to adopt a higher target. He gave strong hints that he would accept any recommendation it made, but drew back from a cast-iron commitment.

He said: "The committee's recommendations will have huge weight and authority."

Mr Benn hailed the Bill as a groundbreaking measure that would put Britain at the head of the world in tackling carbon emissions. He believes the Bill's provision for a fiveyearly plan for the amount of carbon that can be produced will transform the green debate by forcing governments, campaigners and the public to weigh up the costs of their activities.

He urged the green movement to accept the need for a new wave of nuclear power stations, which are cleaner per kilowatt than coal or gas.

On the criticism that aviation and shipping emissions are not counted, he said: "If a ship leaves London, fuels in international waters, picks up cargo in Europe and takes it to Sydney, which country carries the carbon cost?"