Tomorrow Belongs To Us?

New Ground 64
Spring 2003
By Chris Smith MP

"The air we breathe, the water we drink, the land we inhabit, the countryside we enjoy: these are fundamental issues that affect us all. At heart, the fate of the environment is about the wellbeing of people." These were the words that opened the policy document the Labour Party produced in 1994. In Trust for Tomorrow set out a prospectus for environmental policy for future Labour governments. As one of the principal authors of this document, I was proud at the time that it put forward a bold agenda. I am pleased now that much of it has already been implemented, or at least set in motion, by the present government.

Much that seemed ambitious eight years ago has been done. Measures of national economic progress do now incorporate environmental factors. An Environmental Audit Committee has been established in the House of Commons. Investment is improving energy efficiency. Electricity generation from renewable sources is rising and there are plans to expand it much further. European drinking water and bathing water standards are being achieved to a far greater extent than previously. A landfill tax is in place. Stronger habitat protection has been implemented. A right of access to the countryside is in the statute book. As a country, we have not only given active support to international environmental treaties, but we have helped to lead the way in securing those treaties. And we have set in place demanding carbon dioxide reduction targets, well beyond our Kyoto commitments, and are serious about meeting them.

All of these are ways in which we have followed the road set out in In Trust for Tomorrow. And much of the credit for keeping the government’s steps firmly on that road goes to SERA. SERA’s unique position as an integral part of the Labour movement, whilst at the same time being a respected campaigning environmental organisation, gives it a role – and a responsibility – of helping to keep the government environmentally honest. The influence SERA has exercised throughout the last five years has done precisely this. Without the pressure exerted on an admittedly willing government – and the sterling role played by Michael Meacher should be acknowledged in this – I doubt if, for example, we would have persuaded the Chancellor to consider green taxation quite so seriously.

The clearest example of SERA influence, I believe, lies in the government’s adoption of the targets set out in "In Trust for Tomorrow" for C02 reduction. We shouldn’t hoodwink ourselves into thinking that it will somehow be easy to secure a 20% reduction by 2010. It will be extremely difficult. The bonus from the transfer of electricity generation from coal to gas has already been used up in this respect. The remainder of the target has to come from renewables development, from energy efficiency and from transport changes. The CO2 target acts as an overall objective which will drive other policy choices, and can already be seen to be doing so. The fact that the government has been prepared to stand by such an ambitious target which determines so much else is enormously welcome, and I suspect this would never have happened if SERA hadn’t been there, with ready access to ministers and to parliament, making the case, giving the facts and figures, doing the detailed research and persuading everyone of the importance for all our futures of attaining that overarching objective.

SERA’s work now goes on. The recent research work on low-carbon futures, setting out how there are many other ways of cleaning up our electricity generation than placing increased reliance on nuclear power, is of crucial importance. With the energy review upon us, and apparent government agnosticism on the rather salient issues of nuclear waste and decommissioning, the importance of a well-argued and intellectually powerful case being made directly to the decision-makers cannot be overemphasised. Similarly, with the landfill tax regime under assault from various quarters, intelligent thinking about future fiscal arrangements and incentives for sustainable disposal and reuse of waste is going to be invaluable.

One of the things we realised early on, as we were preparing In Trust for Tomorrow, is that a sensible environmental policy cuts across the whole of government. It cannot and should not be corralled into the responsibility of one minister or department alone. It requires a whole range of ministers to recognise the environmental implications of their decisions and the activities of their departments. It is true to say that many ministers now do have that recognition. They need, however, to be reminded constantly of it, and SERA exists in part to carry out that reminding function. Long may it continue to do so.

Chris Smith is the president of SERA