LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Tuesday the global economic downturn would not deflect the UK government from efforts to reduce Britain's carbon emissions and combat global warming.
Brown told a wind energy conference in London ministers were committed to meeting a target to produce 15 percent of the UK's energy supply from renewable sources, such as wind and wave power, by 2020.
"You may have heard some people say that these difficult economic times should or will reduce the government's commitment to building a low carbon economy. They should not and will not," Brown said in a recorded statement shown by video link to delegates at the British Wind Energy Association's conference.
Doubts have been expressed about the UK's ability to meet its renewable energy targets, with investors warning that companies need more financial incentives to develop wind farms.
A report in Britain's Observer newspaper at the weekend said delays in gaining planning approval for farms, long delivery times, escalating costs, and technical problems were all threatening to derail government plans.
The UK would pass 3 gigawatts of installed wind energy production capacity this week, up from one gigawatt in 2005. Britain had now overtaken Denmark as the world's largest producer of energy from offshore wind, he said.
"What this means is the creation of an unprecedented 100 billion pounds market for renewable energy sources in just over a decade," Brown said.
"That will create huge new business opportunities - and around 160,000 jobs."
(Reporting by Phil Waller; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and David Cowell)
