Tag: 2013

Below is the text of the speech made by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Davey, at the Scottish Renewables Conference held in Edinburgh on 18th March 2013.

Introduction

It’s great to be here with you in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh is one of the great European cities.

Home to great artists, great thinkers, great inventors, great pioneers.

Capital city of a nation blessed by the talents of its people, and rich in natural resources.

And it is this combination of natural resources – the wind, the waves, the geology – coupled with its great human resources – the talents of the people, the work ethic, and determination to succeed…..

……it is these things that make Scotland one of the energy hubs of the world and a powerhouse of the new renewable energy industry.

People in Scotland have embraced renewable technology.

This chimes with my Department’s recent survey that showed overwhelming support for renewables, across the UK.

As you will see from the poll published later at today’s conference, the majority of Scots are more favourable towards renewables than other sources of energy.

Scottish renewables now account for 40% of the installed capacity of the whole of the UK – supporting thousands of jobs, green jobs that provide prosperity, and help cut dangerous emissions.

This really is truly a Scottish success story – made possible by the drive and determination of many of you here in this room.

Encouraged by successive Scottish Governments that have recognised the value of green growth.

And enabled by a United Kingdom Government committed to the vision of a low carbon future.

Committed to creating a market that incentivises clean energy.

And committed to going out and getting the capital investment required to build the infrastructure that we need to meet our shared ambition.

And what is that ambition?

A green, sustainable and prosperous future for the whole of the British Isles – and for the Europe we call home.

Playing a leading role internationally in tackling climate change.

So today I want to talk about how this drive for green growth will benefit people in Scotland – bringing green jobs and green investment.

I want to chart this Scottish success story in the context of the shape of the market reforms we are working through in Westminster and what they will mean for the future of renewables across the whole of the UK.

But I want to start by talking about the energy challenge we face together.

The challenge

I am the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.

Not either/or.

I am charged with ensuring that we power our United Kingdom and protect the planet at the same time.

I need to meet both objectives when making decisions.

And this means recognising some realities – realities of the transition to our low carbon future.

Let me give you three.

Energy security, the continuing role of hydro-carbons, and the climate change threat.

First, collectively we face a huge infrastructure challenge, to keep the lights on.

With around a fifth of the UKs power stations due to close this decade, including some 2.5GW based here in Scotland, ensuring we have enough reliable capacity to meet demand now and in the future is my priority number one.

We need around £110bn of capital investment this decade alone to deal with that.

That is what I am concentrating on in Westminster – and I will come back to this theme later.

The second reality is that fossil fuels will remain part of the energy mix for some years to come – gas replacing coal, petrol and diesel fuelled transport, for example ahead of the development with low and zero carbon emission vehicles and their roll out to the mass market.

So, the resources in the North Sea have been and remain a boon to Scotland and the UK as a whole.

And it’s good to see investment in the North Sea rising.

It is also right that we investigate the potential that shale gas represents.

For we will need to continue maximising the recovery of indigenous hydrocarbon resources – on land and at sea.

Because these domestic resources enhance our energy security and they can be a driver of much needed growth – and they provide a valuable contribution to the balance of payments.

But let me be clear – these resources are unlikely to provide us with cheap energy bills as some would have us believe.

Even shale gas is not the silver bullet people think.

With increasing global demand for gas, the UK’s shale gas resources are highly unlikely to move global prices in any meaningful way.

Climate Change

And, of course, there is a third reality.

Climate Change.

Climate Change is a real and present danger.

The scientific evidence is overwhelming.

It is happening now and it will only get much worse if we don’t act.

And as our understanding of the changing climate grows, so does our understanding of what those risks might mean for our people.

An Earth which is hotter, more disaster-prone and more dangerous in the years to come means a more brutal environment for our citizens.

Just as it is this generation’s responsibility to pass on a healthy economy to the next.

So it is this generation’s responsibility to pass on a healthy environment to the next.

Therefore we can’t carry on using unabated fossil fuels at the rate we are now, decade after decade to come.

We have to reduce carbon emissions.

And with the Climate Change Act, this is not only a moral obligation, it is a legal one too.

So this is the energy and climate change challenge we face, together, in the UK.

Keeping the lights on, getting the investment we need into the system to provide the energy security we need.

While at the same time accelerating the transition to a low-carbon energy generation.

Increasing efficiency, reducing waste.

To achieve this we need to recognise one last reality.

I am not the Secretary of State for renewables – or for oil and gas or for nuclear – or for CCS or any other technology for that matter.

I am the Secretary of State for all of the above.

I need to make sure we are encouraging development in all these areas – making sure we have a wide mix of energy sources in order to ensure a secure and affordable energy supply.

But within that mix I am also clear, the cleaner the fuel the better, the greener the growth the better.

I will continue to look at the big picture to see how all sources of energy generation fit together in a market as we transition to the low-carbon future.

But that transition must happen – and that makes the generation of renewable energy an indispensible part of our strategy.

And it makes the renewables industry a top priority for investment.

So let me turn to the renewables industry and the success story it represents here in Scotland.

Green growth with Scottish renewables

And what a success story it is.

You all know the statistics.

Some 11,000 jobs supported by the renewable energy industry in Scotland.

Over 35% of electricity used here generated by renewables.

A massive source of inward investment.

Over the last 2 years alone Scotland has seen announcements of over £2.3bn of investment in renewables with the potential to support over 4,500 extra jobs.

Scotland already leads the UK in terms of installed capacity and there are billions of pounds of further investment in the pipeline.

Across the UK as a whole, the Renewable Energy Association estimate that by 2020, some 400,000 jobs could be supported by the renewables industry.

This is green growth.

These are green jobs.

Areva’s plans for a new offshore wind manufacturing plant in Scotland – 750 new green jobs.

Gamesa siting its new UK wind turbine manufacturing plant at the Port of Leith – 800 new green jobs.

Samsung Heavy Industries proposing to base its first European offshore wind project in Fife – 500 new green jobs.

The new Aikengall 2 windfarm – 100 new green jobs.

All these projects – based on green investment, creating green jobs, providing huge benefits to communities in Scotland.

And it’s not just the big companies.

It’s the small ones too.

From overseas and home grown.

Green growth reaching down through the supply chain, creating jobs, encouraging innovation.

Take some of the members of Scottish Renewables.

Natural Power – just 7 employees at the beginning of the new century – now with over 200.

Sgurr Energy – founded in Glasgow in 2002, now a global company.

Not just hiring in Scotland, but with offices in China, Brazil, India, the US.

Gaia Wind – the fastest growing private firm in Scotland.

When I was in Aberdeen earlier this month I visited ROVOP – a new hi-tech start up only a year old building remotely operated diving vehicles to work on offshore wind farms.

A healthy order book, growing rapidly, exporting too – generating 75% of its revenue internationally.

This is the future.

Because the world is not standing still to watch.

Here in Europe – strong renewables sectors in Ireland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany.

In America, President Obama has issued a call to arms – seeing green technology as the path to “new jobs and new industries” that will maintain “economic vitality”.

In China, Australia, Japan, Brazil – targets to increase renewables.

This is a global boom market of £3.3 trillion, growing at 3.7% a year, with investment in renewables outpacing that in fossil fuels.

The International Energy Agency foresees some 6.4 trillion dollars of investment in renewables over the next two decades.

So this is a global race.

And in some areas – such as offshore wind – the UK has a head start.

But if we really want to thrive in this new environment of green growth, if we want to continue creating green jobs here in Scotland and in the rest of the UK, we will need to accelerate our own domestic drive to clean up our energy generation system and transition to a low-carbon economy.

So let me turn to what we are doing to create the framework for investment in renewables and green growth.

Electricity Market Reform

Of course, to meet the emissions reductions targets set out in the Climate Change Act we will need action in many sectors – transport, agriculture, waste management – and well as energy.

But energy is the largest producer of emissions.

Much can be done through energy efficiency.

And the £1.3bn Green Deal to help people improve their homes, save money on their bills, and cut their carbon footprint all at the same time, will be a driver of green growth.

But the centre-piece of the drive for green growth is the plan for electricity market reform now passing through the Westminster Parliament.

Our long-term vision is for a competitive market where low-carbon technologies, including renewables, participate on a level playing field.

Where people get value for money because the market is responsive to competition – not just to volatile international fossil fuel prices.

The current electricity market can’t deliver that.

First, because it is skewed to fossil fuel capacity.

And second because the current ways in which we bring on low carbon don’t deliver best value for consumers.

So it has to be reformed – but in a gradual way, that’s investment friendly, because we need investment now, while we are reforming.

So we will provide certainty in transition, and encourage investment in renewables and other forms of low-carbon generation, setting a new Carbon Price Floor and guaranteeing contract prices for low-carbon generators.

And because I recognise that more certainty is required right now for shovel-ready projects, I set out last week further detail on the Final Investment Decision Enabling Programme for renewables.

This will mean that developers of renewable electricity projects will be able to apply for support, and enable investors to make final investment decisions this year ahead of changes to the electricity market next year.

This should help construction on a number of projects to start sooner rather than later.

Looking out to 2020, we have trebled support under the Levy Control Framework to £7.6 billion – sending a strong clear signal that there is plenty of funding for low-carbon investment.

This will help increase the amount of electricity coming from renewables from 11% today to around 30% by 2020, as well as supporting new nuclear power and carbon capture and storage.

Here in Scotland, the Scottish Government has a target for renewables to generate the equivalent of 100% of gross annual electricity consumption by 2020.

I fully support this ambition, but achieving it will be a daunting task.

The Climate Change Committee estimates that to meet this target installed capacity will need to treble.

The best way that I, as Secretary of State at the UK level, can help achieve this is to make sure that electricity market reform is successful in incentivising investment in renewables.

And that is what I am doing.

I will do everything I can to get capital into the pipeline.

In my Department, and across Government, working closely with devolved administration, including here in Scotland, my fellow ministers and I are beginning an aggressive campaign to attract global financial investors.

And this is a powerful pitch.

Contracts for Difference will give investors a stable and predictable income – not just for a couple of years, but for over a decade.

As the Prime Minister has said: “What other industry or business anywhere in the world has got that sort of certainty?”

The United Kingdom offers a uniquely attractive stable, transparent and supportive environment for investment in low-carbon generation.

Stronger together

And this brings me to my final point today.

The future of Scottish renewables is more secure with Scotland as part of the United Kingdom.

Look – as an Englishman, I feel a little uncomfortable about coming to Scotland and talking about the approaching referendum on independence.

But as Scotland’s decision will affect all of us in the UK, and as a Liberal Democrat who has long championed devolution, even when it was unfashionable to do so, I feel I have the right to speak up.

And as the UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change – representing the interests of all parts of the UK – I feel I have a duty to do so.

I have spoken about this before and at length, and no doubt I will do so again before too long.

So today I want to restrict myself to one simple point on this.

And that is, I guess, about self-interest – Scottish self-interest.

As part of the Great Britain energy market, Scotland and its energy industry, as net exporters of energy, have unhindered access to a market of over 23 million households and the integrated energy networks that deliver to them.

And Scottish renewables benefit from the ability to spread investment costs across the whole of the UK consumer base.

I have no doubt that if people in Scotland opt to leave the UK, an independent Scottish Government would be committed to giving the Scottish energy industry the support that it needs.

But commitment and ability to deliver are two different things.

My point is this.

An independent Scotland will be just that – independent.

Treated by the UK as just one of a number of countries it could buy renewables from.

We are pursuing a number of interconnection projects with our European neighbours, including Norway and Ireland.

For an independent Scotland, this would potentially represent serious competition.

If the UK were to look beyond its borders for renewable energy, we would need to consider which sources provide the cheapest and most reliable options for our people.

Now that could be from Scotland, but it could also be from Ireland, from Norway or elsewhere.

I am not absolutely saying that Scotland will not be able to compete.

But it will be much harder for a nation potentially having to spread the costs of investment in renewables across just two and a half million households to keep prices competitive.

I am sure that an independent Scottish Government would champion its national industries, but the economic reality is that Scottish energy industry would lose the benefit of the UK’s international clout when promoting Scottish products and industries – instead it would be in direct competition to the UK.

These are the uncertainties that independence will bring.

We shouldn’t just take for granted critical features like this when deciding our future together.

It is an easy matter to assert that the Single Energy Market would continue as it is –but independence is independence.

Divergence isn’t just possible – it is likely.

Devolution is working for Scottish renewables.

As part of the UK, Scottish renewables are thriving – with two governments working and collaborating to realise its potential, constitutionally required to do so..

Allowing tailored support for projects at a local level by the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise.

And, as part of the family of the United Kingdom, retaining unimpeded access to the consumer and tax base to underpin the economics.

Together we have the best of both worlds.

I believe wholeheartedly that Scotland is stronger as part of the United Kingdom, and the UK is stronger with Scotland in it.

And the future for Scottish renewables more secure in the UK that outside it.

Conclusion

So let me conclude ladies and gentlemen with this.

In the UK as a whole, we are embarking on the most ambitious reform of our energy system in generations.

Working together we can attract the investment, build the infrastructure and develop the technology we need to move towards the secure, affordable low carbon future that we have collectively committed to.

And with this drive comes growth and jobs.

Green growth and green jobs.

Scotland has been showing the way.

You have been showing the way.

So, lets, together, continue to Lead the new green renewable energy revolution.

Powering the United Kingdom, and protecting our planet.

Below is the text of the speech made by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Davey, at the ExCel Centre in London on 5th March 2013.

First, let me thank EcoBuild for this opportunity to discuss the progress of our Energy Efficiency Strategy.

I want to use my time to set out briefly why it’s so important that we get our approach to energy efficiency right.

And to talk specifically about the Green Deal and the Energy Company Obligation.

I’m delighted that industry leaders from the UK Green Building Council are meeting tomorrow to discuss sustainability in the built environment.

Industries views are extremely important and I want you to make your voice heard loud and clear.

Joint endeavour

But my key message today is this:

We, the Government, are setting out to create a market in energy efficiency that will, over time, create jobs and provide opportunities for businesses to thrive in every part of the construction industry.

Energy efficiency can be a huge boost to your firms.

But it’s not going to happen overnight.

It’s going to be a long-term transformation.

And as the market takes off – so will these opportunities gradually take off.

Not just in the UK – but there is an export market in energy efficiency too.

I want you to be ready to take advantage.

Because this is a joint endeavour.

We have worked very well together, those of you who have been involved in designing the Green Deal, Government and industry, to get this far.

And we need to stick together to make sure we build momentum.

Here today, in this hall, and throughout the exhibition, are the people who have the answers to many of the difficult issues we are working through.

To succeed we will need to leverage your expertise, your reach with customers, your advertising capacity, your experience of what works and what doesn’t.

Together, we need to get this right:

To help people struggling with rising energy costs;

To help get the economy moving again;

And to be part of the climate change solution.

Let me take each of these three key objectives in turn – starting with climate change.

Climate change

Heating and powering our building stock is responsible for almost 40% of our greenhouse gas emissions.

Those emissions must come down if we are to help tackle climate change.

Be in no doubt – climate change is a real and present danger, it is already happening now and it will only get worse if we don’t act.

Energy Efficiency and demand reduction are only a part of the response, but they’re a very important part.

If we get this right, as my Department’s Carbon plan sets out, we could reduce carbon emissions from buildings by between a quarter and two-fifths by the middle of the next decade.

This will go a long way to making sure Britain is part of the climate change solution, and not part of the problem.

Energy bills

The second reason we have to get this right is to help people struggling with the rising costs of energy bills.

Domestic gas prices increased by an average of just under 8% in the last months of 2012 – on the back of sustained rises over the last 5 years.

And with the economic situation as it is, we have to help people who are struggling to keep up.

The Government can’t control wholesale prices in a global market.

When gas demand is booming to fuel emerging economies like India and China, replacing the nuclear power Japan turned off.

When even the shale gas revolution won’t get global gas prices lower.

The best way to help the fuel poor in Britain and to help those facing higher energy bills be they people or businesses, is to reduce the amount of energy they need to use.

If we get this right, people will have warmer homes for less – with lower bills than otherwise.

Green growth

The third reason we need to get this right is because there is a huge positive business opportunity out there.

An opportunity for green growth.

Creating green jobs, creating new green businesses, growing the green market, growing green prosperity.

The energy efficiency sector already accounts for around 136,000 jobs.

And the sector is likely to expand by around 5% a year.

With the Green Deal and the Energy Company Obligation we have the tools to open up the energy efficiency market.

The cumulative value of finance for the Green Deal is projected to be over a billion pounds by 2015.

By then, we expect to see ECO and the Green Deal together result in over one million separate pieces of home improvement work.

A lot of the work will be labour intensive which means new jobs – over 30,000 in the insulation sector alone.

And just look at the size of the market.

Almost eight million homes potentially needing solid wall insulation.

Five and a half million that could have cavity wall insulation.

Over six million could get more loft insulation.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

There are over 40 different types of home improvements that can be made under the Green Deal.

You may be interested in the prospect of Green Deals globally.

I am consistently asked how the Green Deal is developing by my counterparts in other Governments, not just in Europe but around the world.

If, in the UK, we grow the Green Deal and grow this market properly and sustainably this is, I believe, a business opportunity not just in the UK – but energy efficiency has potential to be a good export market for British business as well.

The energy efficiency market place

So what is the Government’s doing to get this market going?

As part of the kick start to last month’s launch, we awarded £22m to support energy efficiency projects in over 150 English local authorities and cities.

We launched the use it or lose it Green Deal Cash Back scheme to encourage early take up.

And we launched a £3m Green Deal communications campaign which will run until April this year to help get advertising off the ground and raise awareness.

How is it all going?

Well, we are going to report formally on the Green Deal through Official Government Statistics.

The plan is to issue monthly and quarterly reports, starting this Spring.

These will enable people to see how the supply chain is developing and see the progress on take up, for instance through the number of assessments that have been undertaken.

Over time we will be able to add in more information and show how Green Deal is contributing towards its primary objectives – reducing in carbon emissions and saving on energy bills.

Because these will be Official Statistics I’m afraid there are legal restrictions about what I can say before formal publication, but there are a number of positive signals I can tell you about today.

In terms of the trade, there are already 40 approved Green Deal providers.

Big companies and networks approved to oversee things.

75 Assessor organisations are registered.

And over 600 installer organisations too.

And we know from these bodies, talking to these people, there is a good pipeline of work.

So even in these early days, these are good signs of growth and market momentum.

Conclusion

But to finish let me come back to what I said at the beginning.

This is a long-term transformation we are talking about.

In some cases the life of a Green Deal could extend up to 25 years.

But the benefits – to people, to businesses and in terms of emission reductions – they can be felt immediately.

This is a joint endeavour, working together.

We need you to be part of the Green Deal megaphone.

Help us help you get this market going.

Help us get you working on people’s homes;

Replacing their boilers.

Insulating their walls.

Double-glazing their windows.

And as a result, lowering their bills and lowering carbon emissions.

I know that for you this needs to make business sense.

And that is why we are creating this market place – for green growth, green jobs and green profits I talked about.

I know that working together, we can, we will, succeed.

It will be a fabulous achievement.

Helping people reduce their bills, helping to grow the economy and saving the planet at same time.

I hope you’ll agree that this sounds like a good deal.

I hope you’re in.

Below is the text of a speech made by the Secretary of State for Energy, Ed Davey, on 12th February 2013 at the Royal Society.

Let me start by congratulating all those involved in the AVOID programme on their hard work over the last four years:

Highlighting the challenge we face in tackling climate change;

Identifying the potential impacts.

This has been a unique multi-disciplinary research programme.

Including the Met Office, the Walker Institute, the Tyndall Centre and the Grantham Institute among others.

And it has been an impressive demonstration of successful collaboration between academia and Government.

And it has had concrete outcomes.

For example, materially supporting the UK’s international engagement and informing our negotiating position at Copenhagen and beyond;

Contributing to the UN’s Environmental Programme with robust, credible and timely research;

And supporting the setting of our carbon budgets.

Listen to the experts

It is fair to say that trust in politicians is not something the public has in abundance.

That is why, when it comes to climate change, it is so important that all the rigours of the scientific method are applied.

That it is the science that drives policy.

And that we hear loud and clear from the experts.

When the scientists tell us that the evidence proves that smoking is addictive and can cause a whole host of deadly medical conditions from emphysema to heart disease, we believe them.

We try to give up, we hope our children never start.

When scientists tell us to that prolonged exposure to the sun’s ultra-violet rays can lead to cancer, we believe them, because their views are based on strong evidence.

We take precautions, we avoid sun burn, we cover up, use sun cream.

So if we have this trust in scientific evidence, why would we make an exception when it comes to the science of climate change?

When it comes to assessing the health of our planet’s eco-system – we should listen to the scientists – and we should believe them.

The message of the science

We heard earlier from the Chief Scientist Sir John Beddington, and from other distinguished guests about the overwhelming scientific evidence for climate change.

Overwhelming evidence, yes.

But of course there are uncertainties.

You are scientists.

You know that good science is all rightly cautious.

Not jumping to conclusions based on weak evidence, but identifying uncertainties and from them learning more about how systems work and change.

So, I understand that, what we don’t know is at least as important as what we do.

Good science is questioning, sceptical, analytical – testing theories and understanding risks.

Two hundred years of good science – teasing out uncertainties, considering risk – has laid the foundation of what we now understand.

It screams out from decade upon decade of research.

The basic physics of climate change is irrefutable.

Greenhouse gases warm the atmosphere and cause changes to the climate.

Human activity is significantly contributing to the warming of our planet.

Sir John talked about some of the impacts that are already being felt.

While we would not want to attribute every extreme weather event to climate change – the pattern is building and the costs are rising – the human costs and the financial costs.

The costs of the 2012 floods here in the UK could easily top £1bn.

And last month the US Congress passed a $50bn bill for relief for those affected by Superstorm Sandy.

As President Obama said last month:

“Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms.”

And Sir John also talked about how our hope must be to limit climate change – preventing us passing a potentially catastrophic tipping point – a great threat to life.

Because the stark fact is this – climate change is happening.

We can’t reverse it, but we can limit it.

AVOID highlights the importance of keeping temperature increases below 2C

To do so global emissions need to be reduced urgently and sustained deep cuts are required long term.

This points to the importance of a comprehensive global deal in 2015.

It may be as I mentioned earlier that the art of politics is not greatly revered.

But we will need every piece of political artistry we can bring to bear to make sure that we translate this scientific understanding into concrete and effective action to keep climate change within manageable levels.

Action based on the science, the risks and the impacts.

Action to deliver a low carbon way of life.

Rewiring the global economy, becoming more resource efficient while continuing to deliver the economic growth that improves people’s lives.

So let me turn to the actions we are taking, first, here in the UK, and the actions we are taking with our European partners on the world stage.

Getting ahead in the green global race

Over the last decade in the United Kingdom, there has grown and solidified, a political consensus for domestic action to curb our emissions, and for seeking a legally binding international treaty to provide for the same at a global level.

What we have done here in Britain has been quite an immense achievement.

It has not been easy and it has been a long journey in which all political parties have, at times, shown courage and leadership.

We can all be proud of the Climate Change Act of 2008 – the first comprehensive economy wide climate legislation of its kind.

Committing the UK to achieve at least an 80% cut in carbon emissions by 2050.

With 5 year carbon budgets to help us stay on track.

And robust accountability with independent auditing through the Committee on Climate Change.

The latest estimates for the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2011 show a 7% fall compared to 2010.

Yearly figures can fluctuate depending on a number of factors from the state of the economy to the state of the weather.

But the overall trajectory is in the right direction, recording emissions reductions of more than 25% since 1990 – the base year measure for the Kyoto Treaty.

The real prize, the real prize, is to design in long-term emissions reduction through systemic change.

Designing out carbon.

And that is where this Coalition Government has been building on the framework created by the last Labour Administration.

Putting muscle and flesh on the bones of the Climate Change Act.

Turning theory into practice.

Taking forward the practical polices that will create a low carbon economy.

Maximising energy efficiency by overhauling the housing stock through the Green Deal.

Setting up the Green Investment Bank to leverage private sector investment into low carbon.

And now before Parliament a new Energy Bill – an ambitious long-term plan for a major reform of our electricity market to help ensure we deliver on our emissions reductions commitments, and attract the right investment for low carbon infrastructure – creating jobs and growth in the process.

Too often, we are told that those who go low-carbon first will sacrifice their competitiveness.

But as the Prime Minister set out last week, reaffirming our shared commitment to being the greenest government ever:

“We are in a global race and the countries that succeed in that race, the economies that will prosper, are those that are the greenest and the most energy efficient.”

The real danger we face is being outpaced by other countries who are investing in clean, low-carbon economies.

This is a boom market of £3.3 trillion, growing at 3.7% a year, with investment in renewables outpacing that in fossil fuels.

For our businesses this means opportunities, for our governments tax revenues, for our people jobs, for our societies insulation from the volatility of fossil fuel prices.

So this drive for low-carbon energy is a real engine of growth for hard-pressed economies around the world.

We are not alone

The UK is not alone – we are not somehow risking our competitive edge because others aren’t doing their bit.

Over the next year, I will be part of a concerted push by like-minded countries at EU level to commit to a 30% reduction target in 2020 and to agree a further strong emissions reductions target for 2030.

And looking wider than Europe, I recently attended the GLOBE International legislators summit.

The GLOBE study catalogues the action already being taken in over 30 countries.

South Korea creating the legislative framework for emissions reduction targets, cap-and-trade, carbon tax, carbon labelling, carbon disclosure, and the expansion of new and renewable energy.

Australia’s Clean Energy Act, and now linking its emissions trading system to the EU’s.

China adopting targets to decrease both the energy intensity and the carbon intensity of its economy by 2015.

And I am encouraged by President Obama’s inauguration address in which he challenged America to claim the promise brought by low carbon technology – new jobs, new industries, economic vitality.

So those who advocate the view that ‘no one else is doing anything, so why should we’ have not opened their eyes to the real world.

2015

Of course incremental, nation specific action is very welcome, but we need to sustain and increase the emissions reductions on a global scale over the long-term.

AVOID has shown that to achieve a 50% chance of limiting warming to 2°C, global emissions need to peak in the next few years and be followed by rapid long-term reductions.

Some look at the negotiations for a legally binding successor to the Kyoto Treaty and despair.

I am given hope: The Doha conference in December 2012 has re-affirmed the international commitment to reaching a 2015 agreement.

I am given hope, by the actions taking place all around the world in developed and developing economies, that we can agree a global, binding treaty, because it will be the next obvious, natural step to consolidate the actions we’re already taking.

And I am given hope by our human ingenuity – to find a way through problems and develop solutions.

And this brings me back to the politics and the science.

We now have three critical years leading to the end of 2015 to get the international politics aligned.

To bring into agreement those representing the huge mega economies of Europe, America, China, Russia, India, Brazil, Japan – those representing developed countries and developing countries, those representing the most threatened by climate change, and those who believe, quite wrongly, they are cushioned from the impact.

Politicians have to make balanced choices.

Meeting their responsibility to look after the interests of those they directly represent, while trying to work for the greater good.

The result is rarely clean and neat.

But it is much easier to come to a reasonable and altruistic position if the technological challenge is in hand and the results are beginning to show.

So my message is this.

We can’t leave this to the politicians to save the planet.

This has to be a whole of society effort, and no contribution will be more crucial than that of the scientific community.

Conceiving solutions, engineering new efficiencies, bringing new energy sources to the market.

We share a positive vision of a green, clean energy and transport – and a better, healthier way of life.

And the progress of science will help us get there.

Conclusion

Thanks to programmes like AVOID the science, the risks, the impacts and the way ahead have never been clearer.

You know, when I am confronted by some of the most dogmatic and blinkered people who deny that climate change is happening, I am reminded of the sentiment of the famous USA Today cartoon.

“If we really are wrong about climate change, we will have created a better world for nothing”.

In reality, those who deny climate change and demand a halt to emissions reduction and mitigation work, want us to take a huge gamble with the future of every human being on the planet, every future human being, our children and grand children, and every other living species.

We will not take that risk.

Thank you.