Commenting on the coalition Government’s agreed policies on the environment, published today by the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Department for Food and Rural Affairs, Friends of the Earth’s Executive Director Andy Atkins said:

"The Government's blueprint for a greener future contains many encouraging policies - but there are still huge gaping holes that cannot be ignored.

"Most significantly is the failure to commit the UK to tougher climate targets - we must our slash emissions by at least 42 per cent by 2020 without offsetting to play our fair share in tackling global warming.

"And there must also be swift action to deliver on the election promise both parties made to introduce local carbon budgets to ensure that councils help cut UK emissions.

"David Cameron has promised the greenest Government ever - he must now focus on making this a reality."

Friends of the Earth is also calling on the Government to:

•    introduce a new law which will tackle the major greenhouse gas emissions
and deforestation caused by the UK's dependence on imported feeds for livestock
- and which will support better UK farming and domestic feed production.
•    push for an international agreement on cutting emissions where those
responsible make the deepest cuts first, and developing countries are supported to grow in a low carbon way.

ENDS

Notes to editor

1. Friends of the Earth identified common ground between the Conservative and Liberal Democrat party manifestos and called for this to form the basis of a carbon-cutting strategy to be announced both in the Queen's speech and the Budget.
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/coalition_government¬
_12052010.html