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The UK government will push the EU to move to a higher target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.It will urge the EU to cut emissions by 30% from 1990 levels by 2020, rather than the current 20% target, partly through more support for renewables.
A higher proportion of tax revenues will come from environmental taxes.
The Conservative-Lib Dem coalition also confirmed there would be a free vote on fox-hunting and a "science-based" policy for tackling bovine TB.
The pledges are contained in the Programme for Government, unveiled on Thursday.
This fleshes out the much shorter agreement released by party leaders David Cameron and Nick Clegg immediately after the confirmation of their coalition.
In 2009, EU leaders endorsed two targets for greenhouse gas emissions - 20%, rising to 30% in the event of a global deal on climate change.
That failed to materialise at December's Copenhagen summit.
But the recession has lowered emissions across the continent, making the higher target more easily achievable; and environment groups have been lobbying governments to move to 30% immediately, to re-stake the EU's claim for global leadership on climate change.
The UK would seek to meet its share of the 30% target partly through the scaling up of renewable energy.
This would come partly through the introduction of feed-in tariffs, encouraging early adoption of technologies that at present cost more than fossil-fuel generation.
The government would also seek to set a "floor price" for carbon, and permit no new runways at Heathrow, Stansted or Gatwick airports.
Some reports had suggested that the coalition would not be able to implement its pledge of a free vote on fox hunting; but this is pledged anew.
On bovine TB, the coalition will "introduce a carefully managed and science-led policy of badger control in areas with high and persistent levels of bovine tuberculosis".
This is likely to fuel fears among conservation groups that the government will seek to placate cattle farmers by permitting badger culling in areas of England, in addition to the programme for Wales already announced by the Welsh Assembly.
The central message from the "Krebs trial", the largest study of badger-culling anywhere in the world, was that it would not be effective unless deployed on a huge scale.
The government has given no details of the move it indicates towards adopting environmental taxes.This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.