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Ed Miliband must put environment at top of agenda
25 September 2010
As Ed Miliband was announced as the new leader of the Labour Party today (Saturday 25 September), the opening day of the Labour Party Conference in Manchester, Friends of the Earth's Executive Director Andy Atkins said:
"Congratulations to Ed Miliband on winning the Labour leadership - he is the greenest leader of the party to date.
"Ed Miliband genuinely understands that tackling global warming is essential and he was a key figure in the development and passing of the UK's ground-breaking Climate Change Act, originally proposed by Friends of the Earth.
"Developing a low-carbon future and protecting the planet's natural diversity must be at the core of his leadership.
"And with a new Energy Bill on the way, he will have an early chance to establish Labour as a contructive opposition on climate change, ready to challenge the coalition to implement ambitious carbon-cutting policies."
ENDS
Notes to editor
1. Ed Miliband served as First Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from October 2008 to May 2010. He oversaw final stages of the Climate Change Act in Parliament, and agreed key changes, such as increasing the 2050 target to an 80 per cent cut, and ensuring aviation and shipping emissions were considered when setting targets. He led the UK delegation at the Copenhagen summit in 2009. He promised to scrap the third runway at Heathrow, to regulate to improve energy efficiency in private rented housing, and has called for support for renewable energy to be maintained.
2. Friends of the Earth led the campaign for a Climate Change Act, which was passed in November 2008 after 200,000 people and Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke supported the charity's Big Ask campaign. The Act requires the UK to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 per cent by 2050.
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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Sep 2010
