Green groups set tests for environmental leadership.
Group members may be interested to see the Wildlife Trust taking a positive step in fighting for wildlife in Somerset. A full account of this action can be seen on the Trusts web site. Click here.
SOMERSET Wildlife Trust is joining forces with the UK’s leading environmental groups to throw down the gauntlet to the three main political parties on six critical environmental issues.
This initiative is supported by the CPRE, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Green Alliance, National Trust, RSPB, The Wildlife Trusts, Woodland Trust, and WWF.
"The parties must develop policies commensurate with the scale of the challenges facing us in relation to climate change, the countryside and wildlife.
"The public and business want more from politicians. We hope that all parties will meet The Green Standard.”
Simon Nash, chief executive of Somerset Wildlife Trust, added: "We need strong leadership now to save our environment. And the public is ready to follow: concern for the environment now leads the list of public concerns at 44 per cent. But what does strong leadership mean? It means our leaders must commit to stitch the countryside back together to allow wildlife to adapt to climate change, and provide strong protection for our seas."
"It means getting planning right. It means getting urban regeneration right. It means getting farming right. It means getting the Marine Bill right. Above all it means boldness, vision and resolve."
The Green Standard: Tests for environmental leadership
UK action on climate change
Achieve reductions in UK carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of at least 3% year on year, en route to a low-carbon economy based on energy efficiency, renewable sources of energy and decentralised energy.
International action on climate change
Provide international leadership to restrict global temperature rises to 2°C and ensure worldwide emissions are falling by 2015.
Green living
Make it cheaper and easier for individuals to reduce their environmental impact through tax, regulation, information and other powers of government.
Natural environment
Protect and enhance the beauty, accessibility and wildlife of the environment in our countryside, towns and seas through incentives, regulation, investment and other powers of government.
Planning
Value, support and develop our planning system as a democratic tool for protecting and enhancing the natural and built environment of our countryside and towns.
Environmental tax and subsidies
Green the tax system by increasing the amount of revenue from taxes that reduce environmental damage, and eliminate environmentally perverse subsidies.
Further Information:
In an environmental leadership initiative, the groups, which command more than five million supporters, will address a panel of David Miliband MP, Secretary of State for the Environment, Chris Huhne MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Secretary and Peter Ainsworth MP, Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment and launch a series of tests against which they will judge the three main parties in the lead-up to the next General Election.
The nine groups behind today’s initiative will publish regular assessments of the main political parties’ environmental performance, and mobilise their members behind the tests.
The first assessment of the parties’ performance against the tests will be published in September this year, ahead of the annual party conferences. The final assessment will be published prior to the next General Election.
The launch of The Green Standard: Tests for environmental leadership will be on Tuesday 27 February, 10.30 -12.30, at Local Government House, Smith Square, London. The event will be chaired by Edward Stourton and spokespersons attending will be David Miliband, Secretary of State for the Environment Chris Huhne, Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Secretary and Peter Ainsworth, Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment.
