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Blair “adrift” on environment warns leading green adviser
By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor
The Independent
13th April 2004
A critique of Tony Blair's green credentials by Britain's leading environmentalist accuses his Government of being dangerously deluded in its belief that it is making people's lives better while protecting the planet.
The report, from the Government's Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), says the Government is well adrift of the path to a truly sustainable society, and does not realise the radical shift of policies required. Sir Jonathon Porritt, chairman of the SDC and principal author of the report, says the Government's central objective remains conventional economic growth, rather than the well-being of society and the planet as a whole.
The report is the most detailed study so far of the Government's professed commitment to sustainable development and cites a list of examples of where that commitment is falling short.
"The Government sees a world in which reasonable progress is being made in the United Kingdom on most aspects of the protection of the environment and natural resources," the report says.
"We see a world in which many natural resources are being dangerously depleted, in which biodiversity is being lost at an alarming rate, in which many forms of pollution are spreading, which is gravely threatened by long-term climate change, and in which the total impact of the UK's activity is adding to the world's problems."
The report takes issue with the Government's incremental approach to change, which it says is insufficient.
"The Government seeks to promote sustainability mainly through numerous small initiatives and shifts of policy, none of which is too demanding by itself, but which may cumulatively lead us to a more sustainable society in the long run," it says.
"We recognise the political expediency of this model of social engineering. But we think that the situation of the world is too grave for modest incrementalism to be sufficient."
The wide-ranging report, which comes as the Government prepares to review its sustainable development strategy, is likely to make uncomfortable reading for Mr Blair and his ministers. Sir Jonathon, 53, is one of the most respected environmental authorities in the country. He is a former director of Friends of the Earth and a leading member of the Green Party. He also heads a green education charity, Forum for the Future.
The critique, which has added power because it comes from within the Government, says ministers' strategy is flawed because it has not made sustainable development a core aim of all departments, and uses the annual set of 15 indicators - the so-called "equality of life barometer" - in a way that is often misleading. At face value, they often show progress, but examined in detail, they often do not.
The report criticises several individual policies. "The UK has failed to get a grip on consumption of environmental resources. There is insufficient grasp of the severity of the threat from climate change and the urgency of the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. "Air and road transport are growing out of control, undoing the modest progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions elsewhere. Waste generation is growing faster than recycling, in which the UK is near the bottom of the European league table."
One of its central recommendations is that the Government's definition of economic growth should be revised to account for environmental effects. "Nobody would wish to argue for economic growth fuelled mainly by growth in drug trafficking or sexual exploitation. But it is a much less mainstream view in relation to damage to the environment, particularly where the damage is long-term and not immediately perceived as related to short-term decisions."
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