In yesterday evening’s sweltering heat (it hit 30.4 celsius in St James’s Park at one point in the day), the Conservative Party launched their Climate Campaign. It might have been better called a ‘global warming’ campaign given the heat of the Century Club’s roof terrace. I’m sure Nigel Lawson would have preferred that (he reckons the phrase ‘climate change’ is deliberately misleading). The message from the Conservatives: we need action on the climate right now.
While the full details of what this means may not have been apparent last night, there were a few key things: no to coal power stations unless they have carbon capture technology (from the outset), no to a 3rd runway at Heathrow, and the protection of our rainforests. On the last point, given we don’t have any of our own, I assume that this is more of an international aid, trade and diplomacy idea.
George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, spoke about environmental improvements being good for business, not a costly and negative thing. This was then swiftly backed up by Paul Kelly, External Affairs and Corporate Responsibility Director at ASDA, who said that meeting their green goals (energy efficiency, waste reduction, etc) will save them as much as £25m a year. In other words, there are plenty of reasons why this is a good thing for business (in ASDA’s case 25 million of them). The supermarket retailers seem to have ‘got’ this, and hopefully more businesses will make the move and follow suit.
