Chair: Andrew Warren

Immediate Release: 11.30 am Friday 17th June 2005

Parliamentary measures to reduce climate change warmly welcomed

Unprecedented Private Member’s Bill Campaign by 2 MPs

Environment groups warmly welcomed the news that for the first time two MPs are planning to work together and introduce separate Private Members Bills to tackle climate change by:

• requiring firm targets and new policies to promote microgeneration1
• establishing a ‘renewable heat obligation’2
• requiring government reports to parliament on these issues and on greenhouse gas emissions

Mark Lazarowicz Labour/Co-op MP for Edinburgh North and Leith and Dr Alan Whitehead, Labour MP for Southampton Test today announced their intention to introduce the Bills3 on Wednesday at the House of Commons. They came fourth and ninth respectively in the recent Private Members Ballot.

This comes hot on the heals of a recent Green Alliance report4 which compared costs of nuclear power and microgeneration and argued for radically increased investment in small-scale solutions and as a prelude to the government’s draft microgeneration strategy5 expected in a matter of days.

Ron Bailey, Partnership Organiser of the Sustainable Energy Partnership (SEP) said: "We unreservedly congratulate Mark Lazarowicz and Alan Whitehead. In particular, we welcome the policies in their Bills to promote microgeneration and especially the setting of targets. Targets are absolutely essential, as they will drive policies to stimulate demand and help us to measure reductions of CO2 – the main greenhouse gas. If the government’s draft microgeneration strategy does not include targets and the policy measures in the Bill then it will not be a serious strategy to deal with current environmental problems".

Tony Juniper, Director of Friends of the Earth (FoE) said: "These two Bills would make real progress towards cutting greenhouse gas emissions, something we have to do this year, and every year from now on. The Bills deserve widespread support, including from the Government. Ministers have often described climate change as the most serious threat we face - yet too often have been slow to promote new technologies and clamp down on old polluting ones. The Government should back these Bills to help bring our climate change emissions back under control."

Andrew Warren for the Association for the Conservation of Energy (ACE) said: "The duty on the Chancellor to introduce fiscal plan to promote energy efficiency is crucial – it will bring down prices and encourage people to improve their homes. As energy efficiency is the cheapest cleanest and safest way of achieving government energy objectives a fiscal plan to assist is long overdue.

‘Before legal targets were set for energy efficiency investment by industry was declining as there was a crisis of confidence in how serious the government was about energy efficiency. For the same reason the microgeneration targets required by the Bills are essential".

In addition, Dave Sowden, the Chief Executive for the Micropower Council added: "It is essential for industry to have clear signals for investment and once enacted these Bills will bring into place the targets and policies necessary for this to happen. Without such measures industry, householders and the planet lose out".

For further information contact: Jane Vaus 020 7924 0795 or 077480 10447 jane.vaus@micropower.co.uk

Notes:

1. Microgeneration is the generation of energy by individual or small groups of householders

2. There is a renewable heat obligation on utilities to supply heat generated from renewable sources

3. The Bills are: The Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Bill – Mark Lazarowicz MP and the Management of Energy in Buildings Bill – Alan Whitehead and are due to receive their First Reading in the House of Commons on Wednesday 22nd June

4. The Green Alliance report "Small or atomic? Comparing the finances of nuclear and microgenerated electricity." can be found at www.greenalliance.org.uk

5. The Government is due to publish a consultation document on its strategy on microgeneration in the week beginning 20th June.

Supported by: Association for the Conservation of Energy, Association for Environment Conscious Building,

Association of Coal Mine Methane Operators, British Biogen, British Hydro, British Energy Efficiency Federation, Combined Heat and Power Association, Cornwall Local Authority Support Programme, CPRE, Energy Conservation and Solar Centre, Friends of the Earth, GLOBE UK All-Party Parliamentary Group, Good Energy, Green Liberal Democrats, Green Party, Greenpeace, Help the Aged, London Energy Managers Group, National Energy Action, National Federation of Women’s Institutes, National Home Improvement Council, National Housing Federation, National Right to Fuel Campaign, PV-UK, PRASEG, RSPB, Renewable Power Association, SERA, SHELTER, Solar Century, Tenants & Residents Organisations of England (TAROE), Tory Green Initiative, TRANSCO, UK HECA Forum, UNISON, WWF-UK