Committee on Climate Change
Independent advisors to the UK Government on tackling and preparing for climate change
Profile on Stephen Hale - Director of the Green Alliance |
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He is author of The new politics of climate change (2008) and is currently the third sector chair of the ministerial task force on climate change, the environment and sustainable development... How do you think the public’s trust in climate science can be restored? The government have been relatively pro-active in communicating the science of climate change. Clearly there is more that they could do. But many of the sceptics are unlikely to be persuaded by messages from the UK government. The media and the scientific community are the two most vital actors in determining public attitudes to the science. The central task of government is to take action on the scale demanded by the science, and to do so in ways that strengthen public understanding and support for further action. Are you hopeful that a deal on climate change still may be reached in 2010? We already have a climate change deal, as agreed in Copenhagen. It did not contain many of the elements for which Green Alliance and many NGOs and governments in Europe campaigned, and it was not a legally binding treaty. But it is proof of the global commitment to action and has some important elements, above all commitments to short-term financing for mitigation and adaptation in 2010-12. I hope and believe that there will be more progress and a stronger global framework agreed during 2010. A legally binding treaty is important to cement the commitment to action among all countries. But the most pressing task is to develop effective national and regional strategies to deliver on climate change. Our focus at Green Alliance is not simply on global negotiations but on creating the alliances, public support and political leadership needed to ensure success in the long-term. Which of the three main political parties do you think has the most ambitious approach to tackling climate change? It’s too early to say! The commitment of all three of the main parties has risen during the current parliament, and is now higher in all cases than in previous parliaments. But the manifestos will reveal who is prepared to make public commitments to future action on the scale necessary. The next Parliament will be an absolutely vital one for climate change. So Green Alliance is working with a coalition of environment and development NGOs on Ask the Climate Question, an initiative to raise the profile of climate change during the forthcoming general election. We recently wrote to all three political parties asking them to agree to a dedicated climate change day during the election. The Climate Change Committee could play its part, by recommending now that the new government focuses on the more ambitious of the two possible carbon budgets put forward by the committee. The science demands it, the recession has made it easier to achieve these goals, and the later it is left the more expensive it will be. What is the Green Alliances main priority in 2010? Our over-riding concern is to make climate change a priority for a new government. There are many other competing pressures, and a real risk that the steady rise in the profile of climate change and in commitments to action comes to an end in the second half of 2010. We need to persuade all parties that climate change should be a priority in the early months of a new government. This will require policies that motivate a wider cross-section of the public than is currently engaged on climate change, and a broader coalition pressing for these policies. The first budget will tell us if we are winning this argument.
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Stephen Hale is Director of the Green Alliance, an environmental think tank working to ensure UK political leaders deliver ambitious solutions to global environmental issues. - Text: Smaller | Larger
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