PPProtectingProtecting the environment: ensuring our green future

Keynote speech by MP at Green Alliance's annual debate 2008

“I want to begin by saying thank you.

Today the green agenda sits at the pinnacle of Britain’s public agenda.

And that’s because people in this room - and so many others - have given their time, energy and expertise to further this vital cause.

Thanks to your leadership our country has started to develop a powerful collective green conscience. In itself that is a massive step forward.

Fifteen, ten, even five years ago the green agenda was often mocked by sceptics. I know all about that.

My party has been talking for decades about the threat to Britain’s environment.

Until recently we were often the butt of jokes for our determination to do so.

Well, today, no-one is laughing. I’m proud that we embraced this agenda when others lacked the foresight to do so.

And I can assure you that under my leadership, there will be no backsliding on our green commitment. Quite the reverse.

While other politicians talk the talk on climate change, the Liberal Democrats intend to push the agenda for action further forward.

And there’s a growing market for that agenda.

It’s not just politicians and pressure groups who are interested.

Everyone’s talking about it.

Churches are, trade unions are, charities are.

And of course, businesses are.

Nowadays it’s hard to find a major company that hasn’t launched its own green campaign.

Tesco, B&Q, Barclaycard, British Gas, O2, Royal & Sun Alliance, BSkyB, HSBC, National Express.

Even Honda’s Formula One team is accessed through a website called “my earth dream”.

Sometimes these campaigns make a real difference, enabling consumers to improve their own green record.

We should welcome that. But we shouldn’t be naïve.

Green branding is no substitute for green action.

And all too often politicians and businesses use an excess of green language as a smokescreen for their dearth of green action.

Last year’s Green Standard Report - by the Green Alliance itself - demonstrated that point when it ranked political parties on their environmental policies.

Labour claims leadership on the environment, but a score of one green light out of six is no record to be proud of.

And for all the outdoor photo ops and all the green symbols that has forced on the Conservative Party, the harsh reality is that when their policies are rated they still score zero.

That’s not to say that my party is perfect.

Three green lights out of six are better than our opponents managed.

And my party is grateful to have had your approval for the policy work that we have done on climate change, green living and environmental taxes.

But half scores are not good enough for me, not good enough my party, and not good enough for the environment.

So I want to talk to you today about my plans for the Liberal Democrats to widen our range of policy solutions to the challenges facing the environment.

But I also want to talk about the way in which we must realign responsibility for facing up to those challenges. Because the truth is that we will never win the battle to protect our natural heritage until we see it as the joint responsibility of each and every one of us - politicians, businesspeople, individuals working together for the future of our planet.

And we’re not there yet.

Awareness of the green agenda may be greater than ever before.

But still - still - only 7% of the think that the environment is one of the biggest problems facing our country. Given all the evidence and all the publicity how can this possibly be the case?

I believe it’s because government, business, and individuals view the environmental challenge from green silos.

Individuals blame government.

Industry blames circumstances.

And governments blame one another.

The enormity of the environmental challenge already discourages people from taking action.

It’s all so overwhelming - “What I do makes no difference” goes the refrain.

And the reluctance to act is only exacerbated by a feeling that someone or something else is to blame.

Someone or something else should shoulder more of the responsibility. Well, this buck passing has to stop.

If we want to communicate to people the urgency of the task we face - And inspire them to act.

Then we need to demonstrate that we are all in this together.

That Government, business and individuals can trust one another to play their part in the war against climate change. That Britain can respond with a social environmental revolution.

So let’s do just that.

Let’s apportion responsibility.

And let’s make clear what we expect from one another.

Today I’m launching a consultation on a Charter for Climate Change.

A covenant between government, industry and individuals.

A Charter that will affirm that each of us has the right to enjoy a clean and secure environment.

That makes clear the responsibility of every agency, company and person to do their bit.

That’s the way to bring about a movement for green action: to mainstream environmental action in our society.

When we learn to trust one another, green ideas will bloom.

Because it’s not the scale of the problem that’s in doubt, but our ability to tackle it.

The evidence is crystal clear.

In the Stern Report, in the Hadley Centre Report, in the IPCC Climate Change Report of 2007.

The global average temperature has increased by one degree since 1970.

Many of you will be familiar with the meaning of the number 450 - the maximum concentration of CO2 in parts per million by volume that can be allowed in the atmosphere if catastrophic climate impacts are to be avoided.

That tipping point will trigger a 2 degrees centigrade rise in average global temperature.

And many scientists now agree that tipping point will be crossed, regardless of what we now do to restrict carbon emissions.

Spring flowers bloom earlier than ever before in Britain.

But they are an ominous motif for the climate change that looms on our horizons.

Peter Smith, a professor at Nottingham University, has compiled a new and frightening report on the international picture. He has found that tropical zones are expanding at a rate far in excess of IPCC predictions, with a sub-tropical climate now encroaching on southern Europe, south western USA, South America, southern Africa and southern Australia. He concludes that the present rate of annual ice melt could lead to an ice-free Arctic Sea in little over twenty years. Climate change threatens devastation to millions of the world’s poorest people at the same time as the world’s two major carbon sinks - the oceans and the rainforests - are losing their ability to absorb it.

But climate change is not the beginning and end point when it comes to protecting the environment. The strongest criticism levelled at my party in last year’s Green Alliance report was our lack of policies on the natural environment.

Well, that sounds like a challenge to me.

Politicians are often guilty of following the main story to the exclusion of the bigger picture.

But protecting and enhancing Britain’s beauty, accessibility and wildlife must not be seen as an optional add-on to the pressing challenge of climate change.

In truth, these are different aspects of the same challenge.

If we are to conserve our planet for future generations we need to take a holistic approach.

We need to understand that as well as tackling climate change we must mitigate against potential harm to the landscapes and biodiversity in our urban and rural communities.

Every aspect of the green agenda is interlinked, and our policy solutions must reflect that.

And those policy solutions must be applied beyond national boundaries.

Because carbon emissions, like chemical pollution, or oil spills, are not bound by national borders.

So if we want Britain to take a meaningful and effective role in combating threats to the global environment, then we need a government that is prepared to lead.

Prepared to lead in the search for a post-Kyoto settlement.

And prepared to lead the way in helping developing nations to adapt to the climate change that developed countries like ours have caused.

That is not an easy role to fill.

It will require courage, determination and - without doubt - financial commitment.

Government and businesses alike will have to absorb the costs of their previous excesses and the losses associated with changing their current practice.

But that is the scale of our moral obligation.

Carbon dioxide emissions are higher now than when this government came to power.

Emissions from the energy supply and transport sectors, the two biggest polluters, are up.

And today the government is making clear its determination to build the first in a new generation of coal-fired power stations at Kingsnorth.

At a time when the Government should be working to reduce the UK’s emissions, ministers seem determined to allow a huge new polluting power station.

What planet is John Hutton living on?

Without carbon capture and storage, clean coal is a total myth.

This monstrosity will only emit 20% less than previous coal fired stations, and a massive 75% more than a gas powered plant. Kingsnorth should not be given the go ahead unless carbon capture and storage is part of it from day one.

If ministers really want to take the lead on tackling climate change they must concentrate on promoting renewable power, increasing energy efficiency, and dramatically accelerating the development of carbon capture and storage.

The Prime Minister must personally take the lion’s share of responsibility for Labour’s inaction.

As Chancellor, he presided over a fall in green taxes as a percentage of Britain’s GDP.

As Prime Minister he has downgraded the Cabinet committee on climate change - Undermined investment in renewables with his support for nuclear - And fluffed his response to Stern with a Climate Change Bill notable only for its lack of ambition.

Let’s be very clear what we need from that bill.

We need a commitment to reduce CO2 emissions by 80% by the year 2050.

The government’s target of 60% is simply not enough.

My Shadow Environment Secretary Steve Webb is leading our campaign for 80, not 60.

And we are determined to make this government listen.

With a personal record like ’s, it’s little wonder that just last week Charles Clarke, the former Home Secretary described the Prime Minister’s position on climate change as “absolutely pathetic” -

The government’s position on the green agenda “embarrassing” -

And Britain’s commitment to renewable inadequate in comparison to the position adopted by the EU Commission.

So what should we do differently?

First, we must develop green policies on a scale fit for the task we face.

That’s not going to be easy.

But the grounds are shifting, and awareness is heightening.

Every one of the leading candidates for America’s presidency has indicated a greater willingness to act than the Bush administration has shown.

This is a real chance to make progress.

So the time to act is now.

We need a government that will grasp the green agenda at home so that it has the credibility to lead it abroad too. We have already written our prescription for tackling climate change.

Our plan for Zero Carbon Britain by 2050 makes us the first major party in British politics to establish that goal. And we have set out a comprehensive set of policies that can deliver on that target.

Green mortgages to fund energy efficiency in our housing stock.

High speed rail to tempt passengers out of the sky and lorries off the road. Raising green taxes across the board to encourage a change of behaviour from Britain’s polluters, with revenue raised going towards lower income taxes for those on modest incomes.

These are just a few of our ideas for tackling climate change which, taken together, set us apart from our opponents in our plans for combating climate change.

And I encourage all of you to look on our website and see the full package for yourselves.

But having gone so far on that aspect of green agenda, I am determined that we must now go further.

We must push forward with new policy thinking on how to safeguard Britain’s natural environment. So that we can lead the political debate on that score too.

The UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment makes clear that the global threat to biodiversity is not only linked to climate change, but is just as big a threat to our future.

In the UK alone we have lost over 100 species in the last century.

And many more are at risk. Totemic species like capercaillies, red throated divers, seahorses. The degradation of Britain’s natural habitats: hay meadows, pine woodland, coral beds.

This isn’t just about climate change. It’s also about the intensive agriculture, urban development and fragmentation of natural habitats that have left our plant and animal specifies vulnerable. Without better protection for our land, seas and skies, our biosphere will be disrupted for ever and our landscapes changed for good.

That’s why I’ve set up a new policy working group on the natural environment.

It will take soundings from experts across the field.

It will provide a comprehensive package of proposals to combat the challenges facing our biosphere.

And it will report to our spring conference this time next year.

I am open-minded about the conclusions that it will reach.

But I am clear on the scale of the task and the need to apply our commitment to sustainable development to the needs of the natural environment.

We already have specific lines of thought to pursue.

We’ll look at how we can increase the number of urban wildlife corridors to help species travel and adapt.

We’ll investigate the potential of environmental capacity as the basis for land use planning.

And we’ll find ways to encourage the expansion of green spaces in our cities with all the benefit that brings both to biodiversity and quality of life for our local communities.

How do we achieve zero waste, or near to it?

How do we cut nitrous oxide emissions from agriculture and the waste and water treatment industries?

How can we meet the water needs of an increasing population in the face of climate change?

Cutting pollution, supporting adaptation, promoting conservation.

These are our aims, and I urge you to help us. We need your ideas, and your expertise.

So you should know that our door is open to you.

But you know, as I know, that action at the national level is not enough.

We need real action on the international stage too.

By demonstrating leadership at home we can demonstrate leadership in Europe too.

We can persuade member states to embrace the principles of cap and trade.

And persuade them to follow the UK’s lead and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by the year 2020. And we can go forward from there.

We can make the case for an ambitious post-Kyoto agreement too.

And we can fight to establish a new UN-style body, able to enforce environmental treaties with the clout of the WTO. WTO rules themselves should be changed to make it possible to take action against environmentally destructive producers without toppling into outright protectionism.

I want us to be able to boycott illegally-logged timber, to protect our rainforests.

And we should, as a matter of urgency, scrap tariffs on the global trade in green goods and services to give this crucial growth industry a boost.

But our obligations do not stop at mitigation.

They include adaptation too.

Decades of high emission levels from developed countries are changing the climate in developing countries too.

They are the first hit, the hardest hit, and the least able to adapt.

These countries are being subjected to flooding, to drought, to famine.

Countries like ours must take our share of the responsibility for the plight of the developing world.

And we must help them adapt to the effects that we have caused.

That means that developed countries including our own must come together and agree to provide funding necessary for adaptation to the effects of climate change on the world’s poorest communities.

Oxfam estimates the sum needed to achieve this is $50 billion each year.

Taking account of Britain’s past emissions and its future capabilities, they calculate that Britain should pay 5.3% of the total: around £1.25 billion per annum.

It is difficult to gauge the accuracy of those numbers.

But the time has come for the international community - under the auspices of the United Nations - to agree increased levels of funding for adaptation in the developing world.

That can be delivered through the UN’s current Least Developed Countries Fund - or an evolved version of it. And it should operate under a clear set of principles: • First, it should be concentrated on the poorest nations. • Second, it should be delivered through structures of governance that will ensure that the money is spent effectively. • Third, that money should not be delivered through systematic loans, but by grants paid by countries in proportion to their records as polluters. • And fourth, the money should be new.

It will not do to rob Peter in order to pay Paul.

So funding for adaptation in the developing world must come in addition to, and not instead of, the UN target of 0.7% of developed countries GNP given as overseas aid.

I believe strongly in the polluter pays principle.

That is the principle that underpins our policy of green taxes at home and that is the principle that should guide our approach to adaptation abroad.

The challenges the environment are manifold and manifest.

Under my leadership, the Liberal Democrats will approach those challenges with ideas, energy and focus. I am determined that we will stay at the cutting edge of green policy.

Finding the solutions that count at every level - Local, national, global.

But I am also determined to translate those policies into action.

Party politics - and pressure group action - have had some successes.

But not nearly enough.

So let’s focus now on a new dialogue between government, business, and individuals that will create an irresistible wave of pressure to change."