Campaign Against Climate Change took our message to their networks in the free Climate Forum: Zero Carbon by 2030: Action for the Climate Emergency. Speakers included Caroline Lucas (Green Party), Andrew Simms (nef), George Marshall (COIN) and Stephen Murphy (CAT) as seen above.

An Early Day Motion submitted by labour MP John McDonnell, thanks to Campaign Against Climate Change, calls for recognition of the current ‘climate emergency’. EDM 853: Action on Climate Change’ states that ‘immediate action is needed…with a longer-term goal of achieving a Zero Carbon Britain by 2030’. Read zerocarbonbritain2030’s response to the EDM below:

In the wake of the comprehensive spending review, our ‘greenest government ever’ shows a diminishing faith in a green recovery…

Plans to develop the Green Investment Bank now falls short …
Renewables are at a significant disadvantage to fossil fuels due to the high upfront capital costs. This could be effectively tackled through a Green Investment Bank using government start-up funds to lever private capital. Ernest & Young estimate £4-£6 billion is needed to attract significant investment from the private sector. The £1 billion promised by the government is not enough, and the UK could lose its chance to become a global leader in offshore wind technology. It would also have been the catalyst for the thousands of jobs possible through the manufacture, installation and maintenance of turbines.

Carbon Capture and Storage preferred despite being an expensive alternative renewables…
Carbon Capture and Storage is a ‘silver bullet’ technology, with no industrial scale plants operational globally. It is a distraction from a renewable energy future, and used to justify the fossil fuel industries continued dominance. The £1 billion research and development funding for a demonstration plant (a small part of the estimated £10billion needed) dwarves the £200 million for offshore wind. The fact the e.on has recently pulled out of the competition for economic reasons shows this to be an expensive waste of precious resources.

Our wider aim is to encourage and support energy modellers in other EU countries to explore rapid de-carbonisation scenarios such as zerocarbonbritain2030. As part of the Zero Carbon Road Show 2010, CAT and INFORSE- Europe presented at the Catalan Institute of Engineers in Barcelona and the National Assembly in Paris in September.

In October, INFORSE-Europe and the Low Carbon Societies Network held their annual Sustainable Energy NGO Seminar at CAT, a week long programme of talks and practical workshops, where delegates across the EU gathered to share decarbonisation scenarios, and explored how to influence EU policy in CAT’s new educational facility, WISE.

Next week INFORSE-Europe and CAT end their Road Show at the European Parliament in Brussels. The day will be introduced by Jill Evans MEP for Wales, followed by zerocarbonbritain2030 presented by CAT’s Paul Allen, and INFORSE-Europe’s Gunnar Boye Olesen, who will launch their new strategy to phase-out fossil fuels for the entire EU by 2040. The seminar on Thursday 2 December is free. Registration is mandatory by November 29 by sending your full name, organisation, country and passport/identity card number to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . See the INFORSE-Europe website for the full programme.

If you speak Spanish you can watch Paul Allen talking about zerocarbonbritain2030 and the history of CAT on Catalonian News 24.