'WE MUST CHANGE THE WAY WE LIVE'

27 FEBRUARY 2002

People sometimes say that politicians don't like bringing bad news or presenting tough choices. Well, here is one: we are going to have to change the way we live to protect our planet.

I was in Germany last week looking at how they are trying to come to terms with high unemployment. I noticed a small but significant thing that had nothing to do with the economy: they have turned concern about the environment into practical action, for example with separate rubbish bins for paper and cans.

The Government has been leading the global campaign to get international agreement to tackle the problem of global warming. But despite important reforms - like help for pensioners to get the roofs lagged to cut energy consumption, and the protection of sites of special beauty and interest - we have not made the practical changes that seem to be commonplace in the rest of Europe.

I find that when I talk to schoolchildren the environment is a big issue for them - and they are idealistic about it. It's important to be clear why they are frightened - and right to be.

While the sun's rays warm up the earth, they also bounce back into the stratosphere. But the build up of Carbon Dioxide - which famously comes out of our car exhausts - traps those rays in the earth's atmosphere. This is warming up the planet. And hence the name 'greenhouse effect' for global warming. The result is ice melting, sea levels rising, and weather patterns changing. The prospects range from islands being submerged to billions of pounds of damage from freak weather.

A Government report of future energy needs has spelt out the need for precautionary measure so we do not destroy the very planet on which we, and crucially our grandchildren, will depend. The production of energy - to heat our homes and power our cars - accounts for 95 per cent of UK carbon dioxide, and it is estimated that in the next fifty years we may have to cut that output by 60%.

There are some relatively easy steps to take. For example, in the way that we have developed the technology to take the CFC's out of fridges, which were blowing a hole in the ozone layer, we can develop technology to reduce the dependence of cars on petrol. Clean coal is an important development - too late for the North East coalfield, but necessary nonetheless.

The key issue for the UK is how fast we can move into the greater production of renewable energy. Sun may not be our strong point, but wind is, and frankly I don't mind the prospects of creating wind farms to supply energy - especially if they are a mile or two out to sea. By 2050 the Government reckons that offshore wind can contribute 20% of the necessary reduction in Carbon Dioxide.

But there will be tough choices too - and that applies at the international level as well as the domestic. Environmental protection needs to be a central part of foreign policy in the years ahead.

It will mean some hard talking with the United States, which currently account for a quarter of global emissions of climate changing gases. The Bush administration has conducted its energy review almost solely in the context of increasing supply - with over 1000 new power plants proposed. But this is no solution. We need to consume more efficiently and produce more sustainably if we are to protect the planet that we hold in trust for future generations.