Speaking ahead of Nick Clegg’s address on Thursday (21 June 2012) to world leaders at the UN sustainable development conference in Rio, Friends of the Earth’s Director of Policy and Campaigns, Craig Bennett, said:

“The current deal on the Rio table is really scraping the barrel – with woolly definitions, old ideas and missing deadlines, it doesn’t come close to solving the planetary emergency we’re facing.

“Nick Clegg and world leaders arriving in Rio must give the summit a life-saving shot of urgency and ambition by pledging tough action to create a safe and prosperous future for us all.

“The Deputy Prime Minister must highlight gaping holes in the text of the draft Rio deal and promise genuine UK leadership at home.

“He should start by calling on George Osborne to scrap recent Budget tax breaks for fossil fuel companies and switching support to clean British energy from the sun, wind and waves.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

1.  You can see Friends of the Earth’s full report ‘Rio+20 Earth Summit: What the UK needs to do to make it matter’ here.

2.  Thousands of people have joined Friends of the Earth’s call to Nick Clegg to end subsidies for fossil fuel companies, see here.

3.  The environment charity is urging the Coalition Government to take action at home to prove its credibility as a green leader including:

•   helping hard-pressed UK households struggling with high fuel bills, by developing clean British energy and cutting energy waste;

•   saving British bees and saving the nation millions of pounds by committing to protect nature right across the UK, not just in designated areas – starting with a National Bee Action Plan;

•   acting to reduce UK consumption of the planet’s limited resources and put sustainable development at the heart of Government policy-making, from how we plan our towns to the way we farm and feed ourselves.

4.  While he’s in Brazil, Friends of the Earth is calling on Nick Clegg to help ensure that:

•   World governments stop handing almost $100 billion in taxpayers’ money to the fossil fuel industry every year, and use the money to help billions of the world’s poorest people get access to clean, affordable energy;

•   plans coming out of the summit don’t undermine existing agreements on sustainable development;

•   rich countries stop pushing for dodgy deals to sell off the world’s forests and unique habitat and species-rich areas to the highest bidder;

•   real progress is made to enable people everywhere to have a say in how the environment is protected and access to justice when it isn’t;

•   everyone’s voices are heard and taken into account during the Rio+20 talks and decision-making – not just the opinions of businesses and politicians;

•   the UN’s initiative to enable poor communities to access energy prioritises tripling the use of renewable energy by 2030 rather than using dirty energy that will lock poor countries into fossil fuels.

5.  The environment charity also supports the alternative People’s Summit process in Rio, where people from around the world excluded from the UN talks are asking politicians to put the needs of the world’s poorest people and future generations before short-term profit.