Friends of the Earth at the Tory Conference

The next government could be Conservative, so people are keeping a careful eye on eco themes during their party conference. Commenting on th environmental speeches at the Conservative party conference (6 October 2009), Friends of the Earth’s (FOE) Executive Director Andy Atkins said: “The coming years are critical in the battle against global warming – the next UK Government must make tackling climate change its top priority.
“Greg Clark’s enthusiasm for a low-carbon economy is obvious. He recognises the
huge social and economic opportunities of action to cut emissions – but we
should be getting far more detailed, coherent and ambitious policy so close to a
general election.”

Elsewhere, at the conference, the Tories set out plans for home energy efficiency, and FOE green homes campaigner Ed Matthew appeared to give a cautious welcome to them, but felt much more work was required:
“A huge energy efficiency programme is the quickest and cheapest way to cut
global warming emissions – and this will also create new jobs and slash fuel
bills.
“The Conservative plans are a small step in the right direction – but aren’t the
huge leap forward that is required.Greater urgency and ambition is desperately needed to make our homes greener.”

There were also plans for greener public food procurement, and FOE were still more cautious about these. FOE expert Clare Oxborrow explained: Nick Herbert’s plans will mean that public money is paying for environmentally damaging food – they only take account of a fraction of food’s impact on the planet and ignore the fact that the meat and dairy industry generates more climate-changing emissions than all the world’s transport.”

Links
Friends of the Earth.
Where the Conservatives stand on the environment.

FOE - 06/09/09