The main political parties have let the green agenda slip in the past year despite environmental threats increasing, a report by the UK's major green groups has said.
The Fit for the Future study, which analysed the green performance of all three parties over the past year, said many politicians believed the economic downturn made action on the environment less of a priority.
But the review by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), Friends of the Earth, Green Alliance, Greenpeace, National Trust, RSPB, The Wildlife Trusts, Woodland Trust and WWF said the public had not abandoned green issues - and MPs should not either.
The only way out of the downturn was an ambitious climate change strategy that addressed energy, transport, land management, housing and the economy, the second annual review of the parties' performance said.
The three parties must drastically improve their green performance in the run-up to the next election, the environmental organisations urged.
The Labour Government's approach to the environment had become "incoherent and contradictory", the report said.
On the upside, the Government had introduced the Climate Change Bill and a draft strategy on renewable energy but there were concerns about the failure to rule out a new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth, Kent, and Gordon Brown's trip to Jeddah to plead for higher oil production.
The Government won praise for protecting the natural world through measures such as the Marine Bill, avoiding a badger cull and protecting Lyme Bay from damaging fishing practices. But the green groups said the Government should have used rises in fuel prices to push through a reduction in the UK's dependence on fossil fuels, and criticised the "inadequate" action on biofuels.
The Conservatives came under fire for an "increasingly alarming" gap between their green aspirations and commitments, and for failing to mention the environment or climate change in their statement on priorities for a future government following the May elections. The party was also criticised for its negative attitude to green taxes and for sidelining its quality of life review which set out a green agenda, but they did win support for saying no to dirty coal.
Even the Liberal Democrats, traditionally strong on the environment, have seen their lead on green issues "wane" at points during the year. But they were applauded for Nick Clegg's commitment to making the UK energy independent and zero carbon by 2050, a move which was described in the report as "brave and bold", and for strengthening the Climate Change Bill.
Tuesday
Political parties seen failing on climate
LONDON - Britain's three main political parties are failing to address climate change as the economic downturn starts to take precedence, the country's leading environmental organisations said on Wednesday.
The recent surge in world oil prices -- and with it domestic fuel bills -- proved that now was the time for the country to reduce dependence on imported energy and produce more of its own, clean power, they added.
"None of the three main political parties are currently showing the vision and courage to prepare the UK for the challenges ahead," said Stephen Hale, director of the Green Alliance lobby group which is one of the nine signatory organisations to the report.
"In a time of rising fuel and food costs, the need for an ambitious approach to environmental policy has never been clearer," he added.
The report "Fit For The Future? The Green Standard 2007-08 Review of the Parties" calls on Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats to use the upcoming party conference season to recommit to tackling global warming.
It said the government's approach was "contradictory and incoherent", putting energy security above climate change and opening the way for new coal-fired power stations without the technology to cut their carbon emissions.
This, it said, would undermine the government's own plans in legislation going through parliament to cut national emissions of climate warming carbon dioxide by 60 percent by 2050.
The Conservatives had made the right noises under leader David Cameron but failed to produce any concrete plans or policies, the report said.
With a general election due within 20 months, the party urgently needed to put flesh on its environmental rhetoric.
The Liberal Democrats, traditionally the front-runners on developing environmental policies, had also gone noticeably quiet on the issue in recent months, the report said.
It urged the three parties to promise to stick to the country's European Union target of producing 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources like wind and waves by 2020.
The government has been trying in recent months to negotiate a relaxation in this tough requirement.
The report also called on the government to come up with a major public investment programme for energy efficiency and an improvement in household energy performance, a rejection of unabated coal-fired power plants and no airport expansion.
"The party conference speeches by the three party leaders will be an important test of their ability to lead the UK to a low-carbon future," said Hale.
The report's signatories are Green Alliance, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, WWF-UK, The Wildlife Trusts, The Woodland Trust, RSPB, The National Trust and CPRE.
The recent surge in world oil prices -- and with it domestic fuel bills -- proved that now was the time for the country to reduce dependence on imported energy and produce more of its own, clean power, they added.
"None of the three main political parties are currently showing the vision and courage to prepare the UK for the challenges ahead," said Stephen Hale, director of the Green Alliance lobby group which is one of the nine signatory organisations to the report.
"In a time of rising fuel and food costs, the need for an ambitious approach to environmental policy has never been clearer," he added.
The report "Fit For The Future? The Green Standard 2007-08 Review of the Parties" calls on Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats to use the upcoming party conference season to recommit to tackling global warming.
It said the government's approach was "contradictory and incoherent", putting energy security above climate change and opening the way for new coal-fired power stations without the technology to cut their carbon emissions.
This, it said, would undermine the government's own plans in legislation going through parliament to cut national emissions of climate warming carbon dioxide by 60 percent by 2050.
The Conservatives had made the right noises under leader David Cameron but failed to produce any concrete plans or policies, the report said.
With a general election due within 20 months, the party urgently needed to put flesh on its environmental rhetoric.
The Liberal Democrats, traditionally the front-runners on developing environmental policies, had also gone noticeably quiet on the issue in recent months, the report said.
It urged the three parties to promise to stick to the country's European Union target of producing 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources like wind and waves by 2020.
The government has been trying in recent months to negotiate a relaxation in this tough requirement.
The report also called on the government to come up with a major public investment programme for energy efficiency and an improvement in household energy performance, a rejection of unabated coal-fired power plants and no airport expansion.
"The party conference speeches by the three party leaders will be an important test of their ability to lead the UK to a low-carbon future," said Hale.
The report's signatories are Green Alliance, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, WWF-UK, The Wildlife Trusts, The Woodland Trust, RSPB, The National Trust and CPRE.
4 former PMs join call for climate change action
Two days into the campaign for the Oct. 14 federal election, four former prime ministers have joined a coalition of Canadians demanding urgent action on climate change.
The group of about 60 business people, academics and environmentalists calling themselves Canadians for Climate Leadership is set to release a document Tuesday entitled Time To Get Serious on Climate Change.
The report calls for a $30-a-tonne price tag on emissions, and says a "staggering" investment in green technologies is required.
The document has been signed by four former prime ministers, Joe Clark and Kim Campbell, both Progressive Conservatives, and Liberals Paul Martin and John Turner.
"We simply can't afford another round of posturing and denial in this next election," said Clark in a news release Monday.
"Climate change shouldn't be dealt with as a political football," Nova Scotia businessman John Roy, who helped draft the report, told CBC news.
The report stops short of endorsing the Liberals' Green Shift carbon plan, which would offset a tax on emissions with income tax cuts, but Roy said funds generated by an emissions tax must be redistributed to those who would be hit the hardest.
The names of Jean Chrétien and Brian Mulroney are conspicuously absent from the document, even though both were contacted by the group, Roy told the Globe and Mail.
Chrétien was not immediately available for comment and a Mulroney spokesman said staff in his Montreal office indicated they had no recollection of receiving such a request.
The group of about 60 business people, academics and environmentalists calling themselves Canadians for Climate Leadership is set to release a document Tuesday entitled Time To Get Serious on Climate Change.
The report calls for a $30-a-tonne price tag on emissions, and says a "staggering" investment in green technologies is required.
The document has been signed by four former prime ministers, Joe Clark and Kim Campbell, both Progressive Conservatives, and Liberals Paul Martin and John Turner.
"We simply can't afford another round of posturing and denial in this next election," said Clark in a news release Monday.
"Climate change shouldn't be dealt with as a political football," Nova Scotia businessman John Roy, who helped draft the report, told CBC news.
The report stops short of endorsing the Liberals' Green Shift carbon plan, which would offset a tax on emissions with income tax cuts, but Roy said funds generated by an emissions tax must be redistributed to those who would be hit the hardest.
The names of Jean Chrétien and Brian Mulroney are conspicuously absent from the document, even though both were contacted by the group, Roy told the Globe and Mail.
Chrétien was not immediately available for comment and a Mulroney spokesman said staff in his Montreal office indicated they had no recollection of receiving such a request.
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