Greens want Government to do more

Greens in Huddersfield are urging the Government to do more about climate change.

Party activists say they are disappointed by the weak response to a hard-hitting report by a prominent economist.

Kirklees Green Party demanded immediate steps to reduce emissions in the UK.

Ministers should also make urgent representations to other industrialised countries - especially the USA - to act before it is too late, said the party.

Clr Andrew Cooper, leader of the Green group on Kirklees Council, said: "The Government's response is inadequate, calling for international agreements when we need immediate action.

"The UK could be leading the way in developing science and technology to reduce climate change. It's what we're good at.

"Instead New Labour is planning to pour huge subsidies into nuclear power, which cannot deliver in time, and is putting paltry and tokenistic amounts into energy conservation and renewable energy sources."

Many people were trying to do their bit, but wanted the Government to take a lead, he said.

The review by former World Bank chief economist Sir Nicholas Stern on Monday warned that failing to act now could produce a global economic slump on a scale not seen since the Second World War.

Sir John Harman, the former Huddersfield councillor who is now Environment Agency chairman, will speak tomorrow at a regional conference on climate change.

He said: "The Environment Agency strongly supports ambitious targets and measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to control the risks we will eventually face.

"But we must also strengthen our efforts to deal with climate change as it happens."