Osborne damaging UK's green credibility - Caroline Lucas

Commenting on the speech delivered by Chancellor George Osborne to the Conservative party conference today, Green party leader and Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas said:

"In his conference speech today, George Osborne drew a line in the sand on climate policy and signalled his intention to relegate the UK to a back seat in the global shift towards a greener economy - effectively pulling the rug out from under the Government's supposed green credentials.

"The pledge to cut the UK's emissions 'no slower but also no faster' than our European neighbours was a transparent ploy to undermine the legally binding targets in the Climate Change Act and set the stage for downward negotiations at the EU level. And by highlighting his instrumental role in the internal dispute over the fourth recent carbon budget in May, the Chancellor further exposes the deep Cabinet divisions on efforts to position the UK as a leader in the low carbon economy.

"While it seems unlikely that Osborne will succeed in diluting our national emissions targets, today's downgrading of ambition on climate change poses a serious threat to the UK's credibility; accepting that we need an international agreement to tackle climate change, while at the same time casting doubt on our climate targets for the years to come, sends a damaging and inconsistent message to other nations and to the business community that this Government will not prioritise the green industries of the future."