The EnvironmentThe Liberal Democrat Pledge for Green ActionTackle climate change - cleaner transport, cleaner energy and a cleaner environment |
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| Concern for the environment has always been a core Liberal Democrat value. Our policies are focused on three main areas: |
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Tackle climate changeCatastrophic climate change is the major environmental threat to the planet. Urgent action is needed. Liberal Democrat plans will make sure that Britain achieves its targets from the Kyoto Protocol (the international agreement on the pollution that causes climate change) well before the deadline. Britain and the EU must take the lead on negotiations for the next set of targets for greenhouse gas emissions. It is vital that we include the US and Australia but we also need to work with developing countries. Our long-term goal is ‘contraction and convergence’ – which means agreeing for every country a sustainable population-related allowance for emissions. |
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Cleaner transport and environmentPollution and congestion have a major impact on people’s health and quality of life, as well as on climate change. Many of the solutions to these problems involve transport and this document includes plans to promote public transport, especially the railways. However, pollution can also be cut by reducing domestic waste and promoting recycling. Pioneering Liberal Democrat controlled local authorities are leading the way in cutting unnecessary waste and we will expand these practices nationally. |
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Cleaner PowerCleaner power. Energy use is the main source of greenhouse gas emissions and hazardous waste. We will introduce measures to reduce energy use overall — for example through better home insulation which will also tackle the ‘fuel poverty’ faced in particular by pensioners. We will make sure that at least 20 per cent of the UK’s electricity derives from a range of renewable sources by the year 2020. Finally, given their long-term problems of cost, pollution and safety, we will not replace existing nuclear power stations as they reach the end of their safe and economic operating lives. We will use renewables and save energy instead. |
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Catastrophic climate change is the greatest man-made threat to the planet, leading to fertile plains turning to desert, extreme weather conditions, rising sea levels, the spread of diseases and water shortages. These are not distant threats – in particular, the UK is likely to become much more vulnerable to flooding and tropical diseases such as malaria. Yet governments here and abroad have lamentably failed to rise to the challenge. |
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Conservative and Labour politicians have preferred short-term popularity to taking the tough decisions for the long term. This year, the Labour Government actually decided to raise the UK ceiling for emissions of the greenhouse gases that are causing climate change, and the environment does not even feature on Labour’s ‘pledge card’. Sometimes it feels like the Prime Minister is just too close to George Bush. |
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I stood for Parliament after years as an environmental campaigner, because I realised that it was only possible to change what the government does by changing the politicians. Otherwise ministers would go on saying they cared, but doing nothing. The Liberal Democrats can be trusted to make that change – that’s why I joined them. |
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My daughter is now five years old. I want her future to be bright – not destroyed before it really starts because the present generation has failed to take action. It is time the government helped people to make the changes needed – changes that can cut energy and other bills as well as protect the world’s future. It is time for a government that takes the environment seriously – before it is too late. |
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That’s why the environment features on every page of this manifesto – a strong green thread running through everything we do and promise. Norman Baker Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment |
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I joined the Liberal Party twenty-five years ago because they were fighting a local Tory plan to create towering rubbish dumps close to people’s homes – action speaks louder than words. Now the world faces catastrophic climate change, our commitment to the environment has never mattered more. Sue Doughty Liberal Democrat Shadow Ministerial Spokesperson, DEFRA (Environment)
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