Environment groups urge Prime Minister to step up low carbon ambition
Sat 01 August 2015
View all news
Ten leading environmental groups have written to Prime Minister David Cameron, criticising policy changes affecting the low carbon economy made since the General Election in May.
The 10 signatories, which together represent millions of members, include The National Trust, the RSPB, The Wildlife Trust, Greenpeace, the WWF and the Campaign to Protect Rural England criticise the scrapping of 10 'green' policies in the first few months of the new Conservative Government.
The letter states: “We welcomed the Conservative manifesto commitment to ‘being the first generation to leave the natural environment of England in a better state than that in which we found it’. Unfortunately, ten green policies which could have helped you to achieve these goals have been cancelled or weakened in the past three months.”
The signatories add: “We have, as yet, seen no positive new measures introduced to restore the health of our environment or grow the low carbon economy.”
Shaun Spiers, Chief Executive of the Campaign to Protect Rural England said, although the Prime Minister clearly cared about the environment, the Government record was "woeful".
WWF UK Chief Executivee David Nussbaum called the changes to environmental commitments “short-sighted and short-termist”, while Mike Clarke, Chief Executive of the RSPB, said the Conservatives risked leaving “a legacy of empty rhetoric.”
Greenpeace UK's Executive Director John Sauven said
ambitious plans recently announced by President Obama's administration made David Cameron's recent green policy rollback look "parochial and small-minded".
"Whilst Obama is ready to defy internal opposition to push through a plan that's good for jobs, the economy, and the climate, Cameron is ready to sacrifice all these gains just to appease a few wind farm-hating backbenchers," he said.
Related Links
< Back to news list