With Nick Clegg’s star turn in the first of the big debates, the election campaign does at last seem to be hotting up – however I have been disappointed by the lack of discussion so far from all the main parties and in the media on environmental issues.  Clearly the media and politicians alike are focusing attention on the issues which they believe the public are most concerned about such as immigration, but it will be a real missed opportunity if green policies are relegated to a side show - particularly as a holistic approach would put sustainability at the core of every issue from the economy to public services, etc.  In an attempt to raise the profile of the environment and get some more discussion going, I have highlighted below some of the key green pledges from the three main parties.  At Green Rewards we are keen to maintain a watching brief on how green issues are being covered throughout the campaign, so do please email me on graham.simmonds@greenrewards.co.uk if you hear anything interesting, alarming or amusing on the environment from any of the candidates and we will do our best to highlight it on our website.

Conservative’s Manifesto green pledges:
 

• Encourage private sector investment in new green technology
• Create a Green Investment Bank to finance green technology start ups.
• Create a green ISA
• Make sure any environmental taxes are designed to change behavior

Labour’s Manifesto green pledges:
 

• Achieve 40% cent low-carbon electricity by 2020 and create 400,000 new green jobs by 2015.
• Make greener living easier and fairer through ‘pay as you save’ home energy insulation, energy-bill discounts for pensioners and requiring landlords to properly insulate rented homes.
• Move towards a ‘zero waste’ Britain, banning recyclable and biodegradable materials from landfill.
• Link together new protected areas of habitat; maintain the Green Belt; increase forest and woodland areas.
• Ensure fairness for food producers through EU reform and a Supermarkets Ombudsman.
   

Liberal Democrat’s Manifesto green pledges:

The Lib Dem’s have set out their manifesto in a slightly different way, instead of having a dedicated ‘Green Section’, they’ve integrated it into their entire manifesto, believing it too important to relegate to a section. Their pledges include;

• Investing £140 million in a bus scrappage scheme to replace old buses with new low carbon ones
• Use the substantial purchasing power of government to expand the markets for green products and technologies.
• Investing up to £400 million in refurbishing shipyards in the North of England and Scotland so that they can manufacture offshore windturbines and other marine renewable energy equipment.
• Set aside extra money for schools to improve the energy efficiency of their buildings. They will pay back the loan over time from energy
  savings, creating a rolling fund to help insulate other public buildings.
• Save lives and reduce pressure on NHS budgets by cutting air pollution. We will cancel plans for a third runway at Heathrow and
  other airport expansion in the South East, and reduce pollution from vehicle exhausts through tighter regulation. We will aim to fully meet
  European air quality targets by 2012.
• End testing of household products on animals.
• Include the promotion of safer cycling and pedestrian routes in all local transport plans.