The biggest challenge facing the future of the human race

By Chris Williamson MP

The biggest challenge facing the future of the human race is how the world tackles the threat of global climate change.

But the seemingly insatiable desire for energy creates a real policy conundrum for governments in dealing with these potentially conflicting demands. The ostrich like behaviour of certain politicians is not a legitimate option though and represents a gross dereliction of duty.

Five years ago, Derby City Council agreed to a 25% reduction in its own carbon footprint by 2011/12. And in 2008, when I was still leader of the City Council, I announced Labour’s ambition to make Derby a sustainable city by 2025 – self sufficient in clean green energy.

That same year, the Labour government passed the Climate Change Act. It was the first of its kind anywhere in the world and brought in legally binding annual reductions in greenhouse gases. It was meant to ensure the UK played its part in keeping global temperatures below danger levels.

But the swings and roundabouts of local and national politics have derailed the local, national and international progress that was being made. Labour’s attempts to put Britain at the forefront of international efforts to tackle climate change are now in jeopardy.

When Labour lost control of Derby City council in 2008, the Liberal Democrats abandoned Labour’s five year plan to cut the council’s carbon footprint by 25%. The drive to make Derby self sufficient in clean green energy by 2025 was also sunk without trace and nothing changed when Derby’s Conservatives formed a minority administration last year.

When the Tory-led government came to power 12 months ago, David Cameron said it would be the greenest government ever, but his actions have failed to match his rhetoric.

The much heralded Energy Bill that is currently before the House of Commons represents a colossal missed opportunity. The ‘Green Deal’, which is the bill’s central plank, isn’t even linked to any carbon reduction targets and offers the least help to households with the lowest incomes.

Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change has adopted an illogical approach to tackling fuel poverty and climate change. He is phasing out Labour’s successful ‘Warm Front’ scheme and is effectively passing responsibility for fuel poverty to the energy companies instead.

But if carbon emissions from Britain’s homes are going to be reduced to enable the UK to meet the targets set by the Climate Change Act the government must do a lot better than this.

They also need to do more for the commercial sector too. For example, when I met representatives from East Midlands Airport this week, they spoke about their plans to make their ground operations carbon neutral by next year. They had wanted to use solar power to produce 36% of the airport’s ground operations’ energy requirements. But they have been forced to abandon these plans because two months ago the government slashed the feed-in tariff scheme that was introduced by the previous Labour government.

It seems this government is so obsessed with its austerity programme that it is incapable of finding a credible solution to the energy and climate change policy conundrum. By contrast, Labour stands ready to offer the necessary local, national and international leadership to deliver a low carbon future that is essential to our collective future wellbeing and prosperity.