Green groups in UK demand climate action from Prime Minister

Environmental groups in the UK including Greenpeace, the National Trust, and  WWF have written to Prime Minister David Cameron about their "major concern" at the weakening of green polices.

The letter is from 10 groups who said they were concerned about the impacts on conservation and the climate.

Since the General Election in May, the government has removed subsidies for wind and solar energy projects, increased taxes on clean energy, and closed its energy efficiency programme.

The government also reversed a decision to ban fracking in the UKs main nature sites.

Stephanie Hilborne, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, said: "This list of recent policy reversals is shocking, and shows disregard for the health and wellbeing of current and future generations, as well as for the environment we all depend on."

The letter praises the joint pledge that was made by the Prime Minister with former Labour leader Ed Miliband and former Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg to address climate change, but warned that the recent policy decisions go against those commitments.

The letter was also signed by Friends of the Earth, The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), and the Campaign To Protect Rural England (CPRE) and says: "We would encourage you to resolve some of the contradictions that have emerged between the stated intentions of government and the actions of your ministers in its first period in office… We have, as yet, seen no positive new measures that would restore the health of the environment or grow the low-carbon economy."

John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace UK, said: "This is not the mandate this government put to the country in the general election. And it will be a hard sell to the international community at the climate talks in Paris at the end of the year."