Archived press release

Brown jobs summit: ambitious strategy to tackle climate change and recession urgently needed

11 January 2009

Gordon Brown must set out a coherent and highly ambitious strategy to simultaneously tackle climate change and ease the recession when he heads up his 'jobs summit' on Monday [12 January 2009], Friends of the Earth said today.

The environmental campaign group said the Prime Minister must grasp the scale of the challenge and instigate a green industrial revolution to tackle the economic downturn and create new jobs and industries. His goal must be to ensure the UK has a stronger and lower-carbon economy coming out of the recession than it had going into it.

Last week the Prime Minister announced his intention to create a programme of public investment that would create up to 100,000 new jobs and help tackle climate change through projects such as home insulation, renewable energy and green cars.

Friends of the Earth's Executive Director, Andy Atkins, said:

"The Prime Minister's jobs summit and the forthcoming Budget are golden opportunities to kick-start a radical new approach to both the economy and our environment."

"Gordon Brown's pledge to use public money to create jobs and build a low carbon economy is extremely welcome - but he must grasp the scale of the challenge we face."

"We need a green industrial revolution that gets to the very heart of issue - not just another round of eco-tinkering at the margin."

"Investing in an ambitious public investment programme to boost renewable energy and cut energy waste could generate hundreds of thousands of jobs, create exciting new business opportunities and reduce our dependency on increasingly unreliable sources of fossil fuels."

"It's time to invest in a clean, safe and prosperous future for us all."

Notes to editors:

1. As the scientific evidence about the scale of the climate challenge we face grows stronger, so the economic consequences of failing to act and the economic opportunity of taking decisive action have become clearer.

Friends of the Earth is urging the Government to ensure the rapid transformation to a low carbon future by cutting energy waste and developing green energy supplies.

The UK's legal obligation to cut emissions
Under the Climate Change Act which was passed last year - and which Friends of the Earth led the campaign for through The Big Ask - the UK is legally required to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 per cent by 2050.

A series of five year 'greenhouse gas budgets' will also be set to ensure that this target is kept on track - the first series of emission budgets will be announced at the same time as the Chancellor's economic budget in the spring.

An effective green New Deal would cut UK emissions and help ensure that these targets are met. It would also:
• create hundreds of thousands of new green jobs and business opportunities;
• reduce our dependency on the yo-yoing cost of increasingly unreliable fossil fuels
• cut fuel bills and tackle fuel poverty.

Backing for a new economic and environmental approach
A number of prominent politicians and economists have highlighted the importance of investing in a low carbon economy as a way of tackling the economic problems we face:

Professor Nicholas Stern, the former World Bank chief economist and author of a UK Treasury-commissioned report on the economics of climate change, recently wrote:

"Let us grow out of this recession in a way that both reduces risks for our planet and sparks off a wave of new investment which will create a more secure, cleaner and more attractive economy for all of us. And in so doing, we shall demonstrate for all, particularly the developing world, that low-carbon growth is not only possible, but that it can also be a productive and efficient route to overcome world poverty."

President-elect Obama has also pledged to adopt this approach. He says that he wants to become a world leader on global warming and create five million green collar jobs by investing billions of dollars in a clean energy future.

Action the Government should take
Friends of the Earth is calling on the Government to seize the economic benefits of going green through economic packages aimed at cutting energy waste and developing clean sources of renewable energy. For example:

• A comprehensive programme to insulate peoples' homes - prioritising the most vulnerable households.
Millions of households (and the numbers are growing), including those of the poorest, are paying enormous fuel bills to heat the planet rather than their homes, because poor insulation means that a huge amount of energy is wasted - despite Government promises to end fuel poverty.

• Developing the UK's vast potential for clean renewable energy.
Despite being the windiest country in Europe and having the continent's best wave and tidal resources, the UK is currently lagging near the bottom of the European renewable energy league table, ahead of only Luxemburg and Malta.

• Investing in better public transport and cycling and walking facilities - and scrapping plans to expand UK airports
A cleaner alternative to driving and flying.

• Encouraging motor manufacturers to build greener cars
Millions of pounds are wasted on motor fuel every year because the EU, including Britain, has failed to make motor manufacturers keep to their promises on fuel efficiency.

2. Friends of the Earth believes the environment is for everyone. We want a healthy planet and a good quality of life for all those who live on it. We inspire people to act together for a thriving environment. We campaign on a range of issues including climate change, biodiversity, waste, transport and food. For further information visit www.foe.co.uk

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