Government warned over green economy plans as UK emissions rise

Commenting on provisional Government figures released today showing a 2.8 per cent rise in UK greenhouse emissions and a 3.8 per cent rise in carbon emissions, Friends of the Earth's Executive Director Andy Atkins said: "Our economy is as dangerously hooked on fossil fuels as it was twenty years ago - so emissions are bound to rise as the economy picks up.

"The Government has repeatedly promised to build a low-carbon economy to tackle climate change and insulate us all from yo-yoing fuel prices, but the Treasury refuses to lay the foundations or pay for the bricks.

"The UK is already sliding down the green energy investment league as companies give their verdict on a series of Government decisions that fail to support clean energy from our huge wind, wave and solar resource.

"If the Government is going to get serious on climate change it must accept the Climate Change Committee's advice in full and set tougher targets for cutting UK emissions.

"Three-quarters of the public want the government to prioritise investments into energy saving and renewable power - it's time to end the UK's dirty and dangerous addiction to old energy and invest in a brighter, cleaner future."

Source: Friends of the Earth