Archived press release

Brown's green speech must be followed by urgent action

19 November 2007

Gordon Brown's pledge to make Britain a world leader in tackling climate change has been welcomed today by Friends of the Earth. But the environmental campaign group said his words must now be matched by urgent action to cut UK carbon dioxide emissions, which have risen since Labour came to power. This must include a comprehensive review of all Government policies and strengthening its proposals for a new law to cut UK carbon dioxide emissions, which is due to be discussed by Parliament next week.  

In his first speech on climate change since becoming Prime Minister, Gordon Brown said that urgent action is needed and that developed countries must lead the way. He also said that new green industries could create thousands of jobs, and signalled an increase in Britain's targets for renewable energy.

Friends of the Earth director Tony Juniper said:

"Gordon Brown's speech is extremely encouraging. But, if green speeches by our political leaders were enough, climate change would have been solved many years ago. We genuinely hope that at long last, the Government will show real urgency and put combating global warming at the heart of all its policies. This means fundamentally rethinking strategies on roads, airports, power stations and housing, and strengthening its climate change bill.

Commenting on plans to increase renewable energy, Tony Juniper said:
"After a summer of lobbying, wriggling, and confusion, the Government's apparent change of heart on renewable power is fantastic news, but will only be credible if new policies emerge to actually meet targets. Britain lags a long way behind most of our European neighbours on renewable power, despite having the greatest wind, wave and tidal resource in Europe. We should be able to contribute our fair share of the EU-wide renewable energy commitment and source at least 20% of our energy from renewables by 2020."

Friends of the Earth is calling on the Government to take urgent action on climate change including:

1. Strengthening proposals for a new climate change law.

   Following a campaign led by Friends of the Earth through The Big Ask climate campaign (www.thebigask.com), the Government has agreed to introduce a new law to tackle climate change. This will be the first national legislation anywhere in the world to set legally-binding targets for cutting carbon dioxide emissions. Friends of the Earth says it must be strengthened to ensure a cut of at least 80 per cent in emissions by 2050, include pollution from Britain's share of international aviation and shipping, and set annual milestones to ensure that we stay on track. The bill is due to be discussed in Parliament next week and could be law within six months.

   Climate Change Bill: Friends of the Earth comment

2. Boosting renewables,

   • a target of at least 45% by 2020 of electricity to be generated by renewable sources - from large offshore schemes through to micro-renewables in homes, community and public buildings - through grants, public procurement and a feed-in tariff to guarantee a premium price for the electricity they generate.

   • Expanding offshore wind tenfold by 2020 (at least 25 GW by 2020)

   • Backing projects to demonstrate the potential of promising
     technologies such as vertical axis offshore wind turbines and tidal lagoons

   • Increasing by tenfold research and development into new technologies - such as wave, solar, and energy storage, and transmission technologies, such as hydrogen fuel cells and advanced cables.

   • Championing major international renewable infrastructure projects - including concentrated solar power (CSP) in North Africa; offshore wind in the North Sea; and an extensive high- voltage direct current grid so that renewable electricity can be distributed across Europe and surrounding regions.

3.  Surface transport

   The Government must tackle climate change from transport. This should include scrapping motorway-widening schemes and increasing investment in public transport and other low-carbon transport solutions.

4. Aviation

   Plans to allow airports to expand should be frozen and more must be done to make the cost of flying reflect the environmental damage that it causes. Greater investment in rail could make this an attractive alternative to short-haul flights.

5. Budgetary measures are required to make it easier and cheaper for people to go green

   www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/ ¬
   prebudget_report_a_ket_tes_05102007.html

6. UK homes

   More must be done to cut carbon dioxide emissions from UK homes, which account for 27 percent of the UK's carbon footprint. This means insisting that all new homes are carbon neutral by at least 2010 and introducing measures to massively improve the energy efficiency of existing homes.

7. Energy efficiency

   A massive new programme is required to ensure that energy is used more sensibly and efficiently.

8. Carbon capture and storage (CCS)

   Immediate fiscal support for a pre-combustion CCS demonstration (to be operational by 2012/13) in addition to the competition - announced in the speech- for a post-combustion CCS - to reduce 'first-of-kind' risk and carbon market uncertainty.

If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust