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Richmond upon Thames Liberal Democrats:Covering the constituencies of Twickenham and Richmond Park |
Andrew Stunell writes: Buildings are the key to reducing carbon emissions
June 15, 2011 6:01 PM
• [Jun 15] Andrew Stunell* writes: WE risk losing our battle against climate change unless we make the built environment more sustainable. That was the message I gave the audience at a Greening our Homes seminar arranged by the Policy Exchange Think Tank yesterday. It's a stark message, but is backed up by the facts. Around half of all the carbon emissions the UK produces each year come from buildings, with our homes contributing 27% on their own. By contrast, only 15% come from our cars, so we could reduce our carbon emissions by a greater amount with a two-thirds cut in emissions from the residential sector than by taking all our cars off the road.
. . Liberal Democrats across government take our party's green credentials very seriously. For me, that means fixing buildings. We know that improving F and G rated homes saves more carbon per pound spent than anything else. So if we want the most bang for our buck, it has to be the top priority.
Getting new homes to perform at their design standard comes next. Slogans come last.
Watch this space.
* Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Communities and Local Government and MP for Hazel Grove
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