After two major climate success stories (Climate Change Act & Renewable Energy Directive), we will be looking for our hat-trick of climate successes in March 2009 when the Government is due to publish its own Renewable Energy Strategy. This will set out how it will deliver the 15% of renewable energy.
The “Renewable Energy Strategy” details all the things the Government will do and the policies it will put into place to make sure that we meet the EU target. This means we have an opportunity to make sure that the Government supports a strong and sustainable renewable energy strategy here in the UK. We’re looking to them to launch an Apollo-style programme to make renewables the number one source of energy in the UK.
We want to see the Strategy commit to
· Delivering at least 15 per cent of our energy from UK renewables by 2020
· Making sure the energy regulator’s main job is to cut climate change emissions by prioritising renewables and energy efficiency
If the Strategy is both strong and sustainable then it will help build a thriving renewable energy industry in the UK and help us avoid disastrous climate change. It could also generate hundreds of thousands of jobs, billions of pounds worth of business and a secure and long lasting energy supply for the UK.
As we saw during the Big Ask campaign, politicians only really act when they feel the pressure. At the moment the Government is not under the impression that the country wants to see a massive renewable energy revolution. Our current goal is to show the Government that it’s not only environmental groups who want renewable energy, but many businesses and community organisations across the country.
Before Christmas we contacted around 23 local businesses to ask for their support. So far around 6 businesses have supported our campaign by sending a post card to their MP and publicly backing our campaign. We plan to contact a few more companies in the New Year before winding up the campaign in march 2009.