Climate Change Action

According to the bbc:

"It is confirmed - cabinet office minister Ed Miliband will be secretary of state at the new energy and climate change department. "

This could be interesting, fingers crossed.

According to epolitix:

The new department will take over the energy brief from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the climate change portfolio from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Green Business has some reaction:

Craig Bennett, director at the Prince of Wales' influential Corporate Leaders on Climate Change group, gave the reshuffle a cautious welcome, but warned there were many potential pitfalls that the new department could face.

"Having a dedicated department for climate change should help move it up the political agenda and having climate change championed in cabinet will be useful, " he said. "But the devil will be in the detail... you could see it working very well, but you could also see it working very badly."

He warned that managing climate change through one department could allow other departments that have a direct impact on carbon emissions, such as transport and food, sideline the issue. "There is also a risk that by putting energy and climate change together you could lose sight of the fact that climate change is not just about energy," he said. "Issues such as adaptation and new technology could get lost if you look at climate change purely through an energy lens."

Friends of the earth where also positive:

Friends of the Earth executive director Andy Atkins also gave the new department a ringing endorsement. "The creation of a single department to overs ee climate and energy policy is a big step forward," he said. "This is a golden opportunity to ensure the UK’s energy and climate policy – so often at loggerheads – work together to tackle both the climate and the energy crisis."

As was the SDC:

The Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), set up by Tony Blair to act as the prime ministerial environmental advisory body, saw the formation of the new department as a step in the right direction.
The commission's vice chairwoman, Rebecca Willis, said it was something that the SDC had been wanting to see happen for a number of years.
"This change will make it far easier to make joined-up decisions in an area which is crucial for the UK and the world," she told BBC News.
"By making the right sustainable energy choices, we can tackle energy security and climate change together, and we look forward to working with Ed Miliband to this make this happen."

Labels: politics