Is Gordon Brown taking climate change seriously?

Within just months of becoming Prime Minister, Gordon Brown has been accused of falling way short of his duty to take action with regards to the issue of climate change.  The man behind the accusation is his own environmental advisor, Sir Jonathon Porritt (left), who is chairman of the Government’s Sustainable Environment Commission.

During last month’s Labour conference Gordon Brown had pledged to make Britain a world leader in tackling climate change.  But Porritt has described these as “soaring” speeches which were not being backed up by action. 

“What we are seeing at the moment is such a woeful falling short of what could be done that we are really nowhere near the pain barrier,” he said.

During the Pre-Budget Report Chancellor Alistair Darling had made announcements regarding some green issues.  This included having a modest rise in funding for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), and a policy change which would see air duty being charged per flight rather than per passenger to encourage more fuel-efficient aviation.

Referring to Mr Darling’s announcement, Sir Pollitt said:

“A little bit here, a little but there, without actually sending a signal to citizens in the UK that this is indeed now the most serious problem we have to deal with and we have to use the tax and expenditure systems in this country to address this.”

Sir Pollitt also went on to say:

“If the UK is going to have any impact in these global international debates, we have to be able to demonstrate here in our own backyard what it looks like to move cost-effectively towards a low-carbon economy.”

It is clear that more needs to be done to tackle the problem of climate change. Although it is a world problem, individual countries need to take responsibility for not only raising awareness, but also putting in place clear steps to tackle the problem.