Jean sent the following letter to The Guardian this week, linking tackling climate change, creating jobs, renewable energy generation, warmer homes and cutting fuel bills:

 

Re: Haiyan Must Spur Us On, Guardian, Monday 18 November

 

Sir,

Former Energy Secretary Chris Huhne is right to link the increased frequency of extreme weather events – and the unfolding disaster in The Philippines – with man-made climate change.

He is right to draw attention to latest research debunking the idea that climate change has slowed in recent years.

But he is entirely wrong to suggest that the solutions to global climate change lie in either more nuclear power or the development of an effective carbon capture and storage method.

We already know the answers: more genuine clean renewable energy generation and better energy use and energy conservation measures.

I hope the world leaders meeting in Warsaw this week will commit to making much more rapid progress on reducing emissions in the next few years, using technology that has been around for decades – not at some point in the future, after a ‘Manhattan project’-style rush for new technologies.

That means a reduction in the use of fossil fuels, and a concerted push to make buildings more energy-efficient to give us warmer homes, lower fuel bills – and more jobs. Generating more of our power from renewable sources would cut our need for fuel imports, push R&D and, again, provide work.

We need strong commitments from national governments, as well as the EU – which could easily cut its emissions by 30% by 2020 and stop making that conditional on action by other governments.

Some consistency between coalition partners here in the UK would also help!

Yours,

Jean Lambert MEP (Green, London)
European Parliament,
Brussels

 

 

 

An abridged version was published here.

It was in response to a comment piece by former Energy Secretary Chris Huhne, available here .