Conservatives conference: Action not words on green growth4 October 2010
The Conservative Party is devoting a day of its conference (Monday 4 October) to green growth.
Friends of the Earth welcomes the move but warns the coalition Government will be judged on its actions.
Prime Minister David Cameron has said he wants his administration to be the "greenest government ever".
Friends of the Earth argues that the UK can create hundreds of thousands of jobs, reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and secure a safe and prosperous future for us all by
- investing in clean renewable energy
- developing new green industries
- cutting energy waste.
Our campaigners are at the conference to press MPs on the Government's plans.
We're calling on the Conservative party to:
- Ensure at least £6 billion for the promised Green Investment Bank, to help finance a greener economy
- Encourage small-scale green energy and heat generation through guaranteed long-term payments
- Invest at least £60 million in UK ports to support off-shore renewable energy
- Introduce a nationwide system of local carbon budgets
- Back Rob Flello MP's Sustainable Livestock Bill to tackle the global environmental impacts of intensive livestock farming in the UK
- Set more ambitious recycling targets. A Friends of the Earth report last month said this could create more than 50,000 new recycling jobs.
We're also calling on the Government to maintain Carbon Trust and Energy Savings Trust funding. Both bodies have a great track record of investing in new industries, and saving billions of pounds through energy efficiency.
International
The Government should also play a constructive role in securing a fair international agreement on cutting climate-changing emissions.
It should press the EU to cut its emissions by at least 40 per cent by 2020, without offsetting.
Andy Atkins, Friends of the Earth's Executive Director said:
"The next few months are critical. The policy decisions the Government makes, and particularly its spending review, will show whether or not it's serious about tackling climate change."
We need to build a strong, low-carbon economy on the rubble of the old.
Andy Atkins, Executive Director, Friends of the Earth
