David Miliband, the Labour party's Environment Secretary has recently made public his party's plans to institute legally-binding carbon reduction targets. Should Mr. Miliband succeed, the U.K. government would be the first to make itself legally accountable for carbon reductions.

Mr. Miliband suggests that an independent panel will set ministers a "carbon budget" every five years with hopes to reduce carbon emissions by 60% by 2050. This target would be binding, thus hindering its ability to change - regardless of economic, global or environmental changes from now until then. So, any future government that does not meet said targets would be subject to judicial review.

As potential future governments, the Tories and Lib Dems are accepting of the proposal, but propagate that carbon budgets be set annually, not every five years. Mr. Miliband says that annual budgets are too rigid and unrealistic.

He has declared the draft bill as "the first of its kind in any country" and said that the UK is "leading by example".

The Tory shadow environment minister claims the draft bill is a "welcome step forward" but some of the "key elements" are lacking.

The Opposition wish for "rolling annual rate of change targets" over the 5-year period proposed by the draft bill. It is felt by the Tories that annual targets would ensure that the UK remains on track towards a low-carbon economy and be held truly accountable. It is also felt that a five year target scheme could enable blame to be passed from one government to the next should the targets not be met.

Mr. Miliband's bill fails to stipulate how these targets are to be met, nay any specifics for businesses, boroughs or households. He has stated that the "big decisions" will be made about power sources such as nuclear. The draft bill is steadfast on reducing targets but is indifferent to how the reductions are to succeed. Faith is being placed in the market and the public to find the solution.

The Labour party's outline includes:

• Reducing UK carbon emissions by 60% by 2050
• Parliamentary reporting every year
• Focus on alternative sources or energy such as wind, wave and solar power
• Transforming household consumers into producers of their own energy
• Placing a ceiling on emissions levels every five years
• Using the draft bill as a trail-blazer to ensure that future climate legislation can be introduced more quickly and easily

To gain exposure, the Tories have laid fuel taxes on the table as a method of reducing the amount of domestic flights. Mr. Miliband however believes that true carbon neutrality will come from making households carbon neutral by 2016.

Will the government du jour during the life of the bill be truly accountable for its action, or rather inaction? If you strip the glitter and hype from this new accountability movement and look at the bones of it - will any government be accountable, in real time? Once the government is in, it's in for that term. So it would not have to answer for its failure to meet the carbon targets until it faces the electorate in the next election. Even if that party was not re-elected, its counterpart, under the draft bill, inherits the blame. So the original party may have evaded true accountability altogether.

There is no question that a re-gentrified climate policy is a must to ensure Britain's role as a world leader. Having written this, is this draft bill ostensibly an altruistic act to lead the world in the fight against global warming; or a clever marketing tool to gain re-election?

It is wise to support climate policy reform, but advisable to question it. Where do you stand?