Lucas: "Carbon Plan" needs to be more than greenwash

8 March 2011

The Department of Energy and Climate Change released its draft "Carbon Plan" today, outlining, department by department, actions and deadlines for government over the next 5 years. (1)

Responding to the draft Carbon Plan today, Caroline Lucas, Green Party leader and MP for Brighton Pavilion, said:

"As a shallow compilation of the energy and climate policies already outlined by Government in previous months, the Carbon Plan does the job - but the Coalition offers little that is new here, and the real depth of its commitment to a green economy will be uncovered in the 2011 Budget.

"It's clear that some Government departments take their environmental responsibilities more seriously than others, so the Carbon Plan's aspiration for broader recognition of the level of ambition needed to meet the UK's emissions reductions targets should be welcomed."

She continued: "Ultimately, however, for ‘Green Week' to amount to anything more than ‘green wash', ministers must provide cast iron guarantees that the Green Investment Bank will be a properly capitalised bank which supports only truly green projects."

In January 2011, the Green Party called on the coalition government to give the Green Investment Bank powers to lend and borrow, and to confirm that it will "make a significant impact on the backlog of important pro-environment projects" rather than use public money to fund nuclear power stations. (2)

Lucas also said today that the "Carbon Plan" should "show greater joined-up thinking on energy by including a sufficiently robust Renewable Heat Incentive in the Green Deal - with subsidised interest rates for that Deal - and offer greater certainty on FITs to boost renewables." (3)

Notes

1) Quarterly updates on the plan's progress will be published on the Downing Street website. With the fourth carbon budget of the government (2023-2037) being set into law in June, the coalition will publish an updated "Carbon Plan" in October 2011.

2) "Green investment bank: will the coalition’s scheme live up to its name?" - 28 Jan 2011

3) "Business needs a clear message on renewables" - 17 Feb 2011

 

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