Comprehensive Spending Review must be green and fair11 October 2010
Everyone's worried about the spending review on 20 October.
Big public spending cuts will hit the poorest hardest and risk plunging the UK back into recession and unemployment.
There is an alternative.
Investing in a greener Britain is the fair, sustainable road to economic recovery.
Critics argue we can't afford to spend money on the environment until the deficit's paid off. The reality is we can't afford not to - climate change is the biggest threat to every country's prosperity.
What does this mean for the Comprehensive Spending Review?
Growth and jobs
For a start, the coalition must commit to at least £6bn funding for the Green Investment Bank. This will help the UK develop lucrative green industries such as wind-turbine manufacturing.
It's a prize well worth winning. The Government predicts the UK's low-carbon and environmental sector could be worth £150bn by 2015, and provide 400,000 extra jobs - but only if it is nurtured.
And the coalition must continue backing incentives that allow people who generate green electricity and heat to get paid for it. As global oil supplies dwindle and prices soar, we need to be doing everything we can to produce more energy from secure, renewable sources.
If the coalition back-pedals on these plans, it risks scaring off the big investment urgently needed to meet our legal targets for cutting CO2 emissions.
Smarter spending
The coalition should spend the money it does have more cleverly.
- Cutting new roads would save £5bn and reduce the need for spending cuts to frontline services.
- Cheaper schemes to get people walking and cycling more would help ease congestion and save cash.
- Insulating homes so they are cheaper and easier to heat would save the NHS money. It costs £859m a year to treat winter-related illness due to living in a cold home.
It was a hopeful spring day when the coalition pledged to become the greenest Government ever. In the chill autumn reality on 20 October we'll see whether it can walk the talk.
Please write to George Osborne asking him to make the right decisions.
