Porritt slams ‘greenest government ever’ claim

Environmentalist Jonathon Porritt has slammed the UK Coalition Government for their pledge to the ‘greenest government ever’.

In a report written for Friends of the Earth to mark a year since the government was elected, Porritt said the UK is currently heading to Rio +20 with a “humiliatingly insubstantial” story to tell.

Porrit, co-founder of Forum for the Future said:  “It is unavoidably depressing to see just how rapidly things have gone backwards since May 2010. Instead of having a really strong story to tell at the Rio +20 Conference, having built up an internationally recognised framework for sustainable development in the 10 years running to the last year’s General Election, our contribution in Rio – as things stand at the moment – will be humiliatingly insubstantial.”

Accessing the Government’s green record during the last year in office, Porritt examined 77 policies and found little or no progress in over 75 per cent of them.

While he found real progress in policies such as dropping the plans for a third runway at Heathrow Airport, the Renewable Heat Incentive and the rolling out of smart metres across the country, a more frequent story told by Porritt was about broken promises. These include DECC’s aim to secure a long-term transition to low-carbon, secure and affordable energy future, with the Treasury opposing a recommended emissions reduction target of 60 per cent by 2030.

One of the major concerns raised by Porritt is David Cameron’s personal drive to improve the Government’s green performance, with his focus being placed on other initiatives such as the Big Society.

He said: “The Prime Minister’s own credibility is at stake here. It’s certainly not too late, but things are going to have to change dramatically to make up lost ground.”

He believes that while Cameron has no clear vision for the environment, he offers the perfect excuse for other departments within Whitehall to also shy away from environmental issues.

He also criticised the Liberal Democrats for failing to promote their green agenda inside the coalition, and while praising Chris Huhne, Energy and Climate Change Secretary, fighting his corner, and playing a significant role at the Climate Change talks in Cancun last December, Porritt believes the DECC is isolated from the rest of Whitehall in their ambitions.

This is evident in the areas most affected by climate policy. While departments such as the DECC, the Department for Transport and the Department for Business are all included, Porritt pointed towards the role that other departments such as Education and Health could play in cutting emissions.

He also criticised the claims Huhne made about the thousands of new green jobs having not materialised and raised concerns that the Treasury will continue to block progress of other Ministers.

While pledging funds for the Green Investment Bank, Porritt acknowledged that green initiatives were hit worse by the Comprehensive Spending Review – with Defra having the biggest hit of 33 per cent. The Budget that followed in March, reduced spending on important initiatives, while providing further funding for potentially damaging activities – most prominently cutting fuel duty by 1p per litre, he said.

Porritt said he now hoped for the more progressive elements of the coalition to “revive the situation” and called on Friends of the Earth and other NGOs to call government to account on their pledges.  

Friends of the Earth Executive Director Andy Atkins welcomed the report. He said: “David Cameron could be building a prosperous low-carbon economy – creating new jobs and industries for recession hit Britain. Unless the Prime Minister starts to show real political leadership his green ambitions will simply be more hot air.”

 

Image: World Economic Forum | flickr