Campaigners call for action not words on climate change
Environmental campaigners have called on the Government to take concrete action against climate change, rather than just launching strategies.
Friends of the Earth’s comments come after the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, launched a cross-departmental international energy strategy.
The Prime Minister has already promised that when the UK takes over the presidencies of the G8 and EU, climate change and sustainable development will be high up the agenda.
Speaking last night, on a platform with the Secretaries of State for Trade and Industry and the Environment, Mr Straw stressed the importance of international action in tackling climate change and securing sustainable energy sources.
He said: “Mitigating the effects of climate change and ensuring we have secure and affordable energy supplies are vital to Britain’s future prosperity and security. The challenge ahead of us is complex and global – it requires not just domestic but international action.
“The UK is leading by example: we are putting ourselves on a path to a 60 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. But we can achieve little alone. Today’s International Energy Strategy sets out how we will work across government and with international partners to ensure our long term energy interests.”
The strategy sets out the Government’s line on lessening dependence on fossil fuels, promoting stability in the energy market, and helping poor countries hit by both climate change and rising fuel prices.
Oil prices have fallen in recent days, but they still remain around 60 per cent higher than in January at around $50 a barrel.
But, director of Friends of the Earth, Tony Juniper, said: “Speeches from senior members of the Government on climate change are now more frequent than floods and droughts. But there remains a deathly silence on the policies needed to actually bring down the emissions. Just yesterday, the Government told UK industry that it could continue polluting as usual, just weeks after a speech from the Prime Minister on the urgent threat posed by climate change.”
His comments refer to Wednesday’s announcement that the Government was asking the EU for a rise in the levels of permitted CO2 emissions from UK firms – though the Government insists that the UK will still meet all its international obligations on climate change.
Speaking after Mr Straw, DTI head, Patricia Hewitt, said: “Internationally, if governments continue with their current energy policies, the world’s energy needs and the level of CO2 emissions will be 60 per cent higher in 2030 than they are now. That’s why we are pushing this agenda internationally and taking action ourselves now.”
Concluding, the Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett said that the international movement had been given a boost by Russia’s decision to sign up to the Kyoto protocol, and stressed that: “Climate change can only be tackled through concerted international action.”
