David Cameron claimed that he wants the current UK administration would be the ‘greenest government ever’. But following George Osborne’s comments at the Conservative Party conference last week, that’s looking a bit shaky. The UK is committed to halving its CO2 emissions by 2025, but that will now come under review in 2014. Mr Osborne said that the UK won’t cut its carbon emissions faster than other countries in the EU.
That potentially is bad news for entrepreneurs looking to set up alternative energy generation projects in the UK. What they need is more reassurance from the government that the UK is committed to a low carbon future. Without this, they will struggle to find the investment they need to start and grow their businesses.
The argument is over whether the UK should jeopardise its industrial future by switching to a low carbon economy if other countries in Europe aren’t doing the same. That’s because initially at least, the switch to alternative energy generation is going to be expensive and energy will cost more for UK businesses to buy. If the rest of Europe is still using cheaper, but carbon-based energy, our businesses will be uncompetitive.
But where the environment and in particular climate change is concerned, the costs of not making the switch are likely to be far higher in the long run. We need to stop thinking of the short term and start thinking about what we want for ourselves in the next 20 or 50 years. And that might mean the UK has to show some leadership to Europe.
What’s needed is a clear statement from the government that they intend to stay true to the UK’s commitment on CO2 reduction. If the intention is to ensure that Europe meets and indeed exceeds the reduction targets it has already signed up to that’s great. But it could be really damaging to the low carbon industry if a slower than expected pace of change in Europe is going to be used as an excuse for reducing CO2 reduction targets for the UK.
The ‘greenest government ever’?
David Cameron claimed that he wants the current UK administration would be the ‘greenest government ever’. But following George Osborne’s comments at the Conservative Party conference last week, that’s looking a bit shaky. The UK is committed to halving its CO2 emissions by 2025, but that will now come under review in 2014. Mr Osborne said that the UK won’t cut its carbon emissions faster than other countries in the EU.
That potentially is bad news for entrepreneurs looking to set up alternative energy generation projects in the UK. What they need is more reassurance from the government that the UK is committed to a low carbon future. Without this, they will struggle to find the investment they need to start and grow their businesses.
The argument is over whether the UK should jeopardise its industrial future by switching to a low carbon economy if other countries in Europe aren’t doing the same. That’s because initially at least, the switch to alternative energy generation is going to be expensive and energy will cost more for UK businesses to buy. If the rest of Europe is still using cheaper, but carbon-based energy, our businesses will be uncompetitive.
But where the environment and in particular climate change is concerned, the costs of not making the switch are likely to be far higher in the long run. We need to stop thinking of the short term and start thinking about what we want for ourselves in the next 20 or 50 years. And that might mean the UK has to show some leadership to Europe.
What’s needed is a clear statement from the government that they intend to stay true to the UK’s commitment on CO2 reduction. If the intention is to ensure that Europe meets and indeed exceeds the reduction targets it has already signed up to that’s great. But it could be really damaging to the low carbon industry if a slower than expected pace of change in Europe is going to be used as an excuse for reducing CO2 reduction targets for the UK.