Tag Archives: climate change

Andrew Stunell MP writes… The Building Regulations: Taking the next step towards zero carbon homes

By Andrew Stunell MP | Published 2nd February 2012 - 10:53 am

As some of you may know from my previous postings, one of my responsibilities in Government is the Building Regulations. So far, so dull, right? On the face of it, you might be forgiven for thinking so, but the building regulations offer a number of key tools and levers to tackle the carbon emissions produced from our buildings. Yesterday, I announced a Government Consultation on the latest proposals for upgrading the building regulations, and they contain a number of key proposals to significantly improve the sustainability of our built environment.

The upgrading of the building regulations

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged building regulations, green deal | 5 Comments

Opinion: If Cameron won’t attend Rio+20 then Clegg should

By Adam Corlett | Published 20th January 2012 - 8:48 am

The Rio ‘Earth’ Summit in 1992 was the “world’s biggest ever political gathering” with 108 heads of state or government. Its successes and failures on the environment and development continue to shape those debates.

In June, Rio de Janeiro will host the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, a.k.a. Rio+20. A very early draft document suggests it will cover a wide range of topics, including access to food, water and energy; marine litter and pollution; eliminating “market distorting and environmentally harmful subsidies [...] including those on fossil fuels, agriculture and fisheries” (I’ll believe it when I see …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged david cameron, environment, nick clegg, Rio+20 summit, united nations | 4 Comments

LibLink: Mark Pack – The three stories that really matters – even to Britain

By Nick Thornsby | Published 15th December 2011 - 9:56 am

Over on his work blog, the Voice’s Mark Pack has a post looking at three important stories which have been largely overshadowed by the domestic political ramifications of the prime minister’s veto.

Here’s the first issue Mark identifies:

The actual significance of the summit was the latest, most extensive and more desperate attempt to save the Euro. Judging from initial reactions by economists and the financial markets, this time a Euro summit may just have pulled it off. It has not already been written off as a failure which, compared to other summits on the same theme, already makes it more successful

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged chris huhne, europe, mark pack, syria | 2 Comments

Chris Davies MEP writes… Slipping deeper into the tar sands

By Chris Davies MEP | Published 6th December 2011 - 3:54 pm

Last week we published Liberal Democrat minister Norman Baker’s defence of his approach to the tar sands issue. Here Chris Davies MEP explains his view…

The weak and obfuscating position on tar sands being taken by the Coalition Government is an embarrassment to every Liberal Democrat who wants to believe that having our representatives in office will advance the environmental agenda. It may stem from nothing more than Whitehall’s traditional “Brits know better than Brussels” arrogance, but it is wrong-headed nonetheless.

The EU’s Fuel Quality Directive encourages oil producers the world over to lower the carbon intensity of their products in …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged tar sands | 19 Comments

Norman Baker responds to tar sands campaigns

By Norman Baker MP | Published 2nd December 2011 - 9:00 am

Over the last week or so, visitors to the Lib Dem Voice may have seen articles purporting to outline my position, and that of the government’s, on the EU Fuel Quality Directive and the treatment of tar sands within it. These articles have been misleading to say the least. We in the Lib Dems have a proud history of fighting climate change and campaigning for environmental causes. This is no different in the coalition and no different to the approach I am taking on the Directive. I wanted to take this opportunity therefore to provide some facts which

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Posted in News | Also tagged norman baker, tar sands | 16 Comments

Revealed at last? Labour’s low carbon policy thinking

By Helen Duffett | Published 6th July 2011 - 11:41 am

There’s one less blank sheet of paper at Labour HQ as the party gets ready to reveal how its policy review is progressing.

Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary Meg Hillier is to give a keynote address to green executives and industry leaders which will “for the first time offer a detailed insight into the opposition’s low carbon policy thinking.”

Looking forward to finally hearing what Labour think, 9 months and 7 days after first appointed as Chris Huhne’s shadow!

Posted in News | Also tagged chris huhne, meg hillier | 2 Comments

Chris Davies MEP writes: Conservatives and climate change – Tuesday’s revealing vote in Strasbourg

By Chris Davies MEP | Published 4th July 2011 - 12:49 pm

While Energy Secretary Chris Huhne is at the fore of efforts in the European Council to raise EU ambitions for reducing CO2 emissions, Conservative MEPs are refusing to back the Government’s position, and look set this week instead to demonstrate their real views about efforts to curb global warming.

At issue is a vote due to take place in Strasbourg on Tuesday that will determine the Parliament’s stance on the European Commission’s strategy to promote a low carbon economy. The result is on a knife edge.

Posted in Europe / International, News, Op-eds | Also tagged chris huhne, david cameron, european commission, european parliament, martin callanan, roger helmer | 21 Comments

Chris Huhne writes… The economics of low-carbon

By Chris Huhne MP | Published 11th March 2011 - 11:51 am

We Liberal Democrats need no convincing of the urgent need to tackle climate change. Indeed, that’s why there’s a Liberal Democrat minister heading the Department of Energy and Climate Change – one of the most important contributions we bring to the coalition government.

Not everyone in the UK, however, is yet so persuaded, and we also face problems in pressing the case abroad. Last summer, together with my French and German counterparts, I opened a debate in the EU over adopting a more ambitious emissions reduction target for 2020 (of 30 per cent, instead of the current 20 per cent), but …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged carbon, environment | 5 Comments

Huhne and Clegg launch government’s Carbon Plan

By Mark Pack | Published 9th March 2011 - 10:25 am

Yesterday Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne launched the Government’s Carbon Plan, setting out in draft form the steps the government will take to cut carbon emissions. The plan is now going out to consultation, with the final version due in the Autumn.

There are three priority areas in the plan for change in the way we do things: electricity generation, heating of homes and workplaces and transportation. The plan also commits the government to working for tough international agreements on tackling climate change.

Reflecting Chris Huhne’s eagerness to see environmental action as being good …

Posted in News | Also tagged carbon, chris huhne, green deal, nick clegg | 4 Comments

Denmark backs Chris Huhne’s push for tougher emission cut targets

By Mark Pack | Published 27th February 2011 - 12:55 pm

A quick follow up to our story about the lively debate within the European Commission over the push from Chris Huhne and others for bigger emission cut targets – Denmark has now backed Chris Huhne’s position, as The Guardian reported:

The Danish government has stepped into the fray over Europe’s climate change targets, boosting the attempts of a group of member states to opt for more ambitious emissions cuts.

Denmark on Thursday set out its own vision for energy supplies in 2050, showing how the country could meet its aim of becoming independent of coal, oil and natural gas by

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Posted in News | Also tagged chris huhne, denmark | Leave a comment

European Commissioners debate as Chris Huhne pushes for tougher environmental targets

By Mark Pack | Published 15th February 2011 - 1:55 pm

The Guardian reports,

Europe’s climate chief [Connie Hedegaard] insisted on Monday that tougher greenhouse gas targets would improve the EU’s economic performance, rather than push businesses overseas, as companies and green campaigners tussled over whether current emissions goals were too weak…

Her words came as a row flared between Chris Huhne, the UK’s climate change secretary, and Günther Oettinger, the EU’s energy commissioner, over whether to toughen the European climate target from a cut of 20% in emissions by 2020 to a 30% cut.

Last week, Oettinger warned: “If we go alone to 30%, you will only have a faster process of de-industrialisation

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Posted in News | Also tagged chris huhne, connie hedegaard, gunther oettinger | 1 Comment

Opinion: Climate change – what can you and I do and the Government won’t?

By Donald Reid | Published 14th February 2011 - 4:10 pm

Now that the UK’s 1400 top scientists have spoken (“Climate Change, A summary of the science” from the Royal Society), there’s no longer any doubt that human activity is a significant cause of the steady warming of the planet over the last hundred years. So, unless we change our habits, we face an increasingly unstable climate, with rising sea levels and worsening floods and droughts leading to major disruption to food production. With the predicted rise in world population from six to ten billion by 2050, it is clear that humanity is in serious trouble.

So …

Posted in The Independent View | Also tagged aviation, beef | 11 Comments

So, what did Chris Huhne achieve in Cancun?

By Mark Pack | Published 12th December 2010 - 8:55 am

After the hype and disappointment over Copenhagen, the climate change talks in Cancun were also going to be much lower profile – a gentle attempt to have some successful preparatory work and build up momentum ahead of the next round of talks. However, with the tuition fees vote this week, Chris Huhne’s presence at the talks got rather more publicity than usual. But what actually happened at the talks?

Posted in News | Also tagged chris huhne | 16 Comments

Chris Huhne announces ‘The Green Deal: Putting our ideas into practice’

By The Voice | Published 5th November 2010 - 7:35 pm

Chris Huhne, Lib Dem secretary of state for energy and climate change, earlier this week emailed party members with the following message, illustrating how the party is putting green policies at the heart of the Coaltion:

Today I am announcing details of the Green Deal, a new and radical way of making energy efficiency improvements available to all, whether people own or rent their properties. Through the Green Deal everyone will have a chance to save energy, cut their bills and tackle climate change, just as we promised in our manifesto.

Initially, over the next two years, we will almost double

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Posted in News | Also tagged chris huhne, energy, energy efficiency | 2 Comments

Flip-flops, u-turns and how not to welcome converts

By Mark Pack | Published 31st August 2010 - 10:05 pm

I was pleased to see the news this morning that Bjorn Lomborg’s views on climate change have shifted, particularly as his scepticism has often been rather thoughtful. In particularly, he opened up an important debating by pointing out that money spent on stopping global warming needs to be judged against not only global warming’s likelihood and likely impact but also against the benefits that could be got from spending the money in other ways, such as improving basic health services across the developing world.

Reading the coverage today closely, it does seem as if the extent to which he has changed …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged bjorn lomborg | 6 Comments

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