Calls for 'Green New Deal' to tackle economy and environment » Environment » 24dash.com

The Environment Agency today joined calls for a "green New Deal" to boost the economy and tackle climate change.

The Agency's chairman, Lord Chris Smith, said there should be a "comprehensive" strategy by the Government to invest in energy efficiency in homes and power generation from renewable sources such as wind and solar.

Speaking at the Environment Agency annual conference today, he said the deal should also include the development of technology to capture and store carbon emissions from fossil fuel power plants and feed-in tariffs to pay people for small scale energy generation from renewables.

Green groups including Friends of the Earth have already called on the Government to follow US president-elect Barack Obama's lead in pledging to invest in clean energy and develop green-collar jobs.

Today Lord Smith said the world was "in extraordinary times, in the midst of a major financial crisis, on the cusp of a serious energy crisis and at the same time, stoking the fire of a potentially catastrophic climate crisis."

He said the Government's reaction to the financial downturn had been "swift and bold" and urged ministers to react in a similar way to deal with the environmental and energy problems the UK and world faces.

"I believe if there's to be another New Deal, it has to be a green New Deal," he said.
"We need a green New Deal to meet our carbon emissions targets and create jobs in renewable energy and green technology."

He said current initiatives, such as the recent announcement of feed in tariffs for small scale energy generation, were "very useful, very important and very welcome," but were a piecemeal approach to the problem.

A comprehensive deal would be needed if the UK was to meet its target to cut emissions by at least 80% by 2050, he warned.

And he said it would deliver long term economic benefits, such as clean energy sources, from the immediate financial stimulus.

It would also put the UK ahead of the game as a "first mover" and deliver greater financial rewards as a result.