Opening keynote speech by Joan Ruddock MP to EC Green Spider Network's climate change communications workshop — Thursday 15 May 2008
Welcome to London and to the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs.
My name is Joan Ruddock and I am the Minister for Climate Change, Biodiversity and Waste.
Really pleased that you have been able to find the time in your undoubtedly busy schedules to attend what I hope will be an informative and thought-provoking event.
Very encouraging to see the Green Spider Network lives up to its name by coming together and sharing its experiences and expertise in an event of this kind.
Particularly pleased to see that we are utilising the latest networking channels by recording today’s proceedings for web casting.
Defra (as this department is known) has some really important environmental challenges as, you would expect, as part of its remit.
And I have no doubt that the most challenging of these is climate change.
A global problem that requires global solutions and we in the EU have been leading the world in taking that action.
As you know in March last year EU leaders, as we know, pledged to cut overall levels of GHGs by 20% from 1990 levels by 2020 and have vowed to boost this figure to 30% if the rest of the developed world does the same.
As Angela Merkel observed at the time – it opened the door to a new dimension of European co-operation both in energy portfolios and in terms of combating climate change.
I think your attendance today is an indication of that cooperation.
In the UK we’ve set ourselves ambitious targets we plan to reduce GHG emissions in our climate change Bill, the first of its kind in the world, by setting a legally binding target to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 26% by 2020 and at least 60% by 2050.
But setting a framework is only the first step. To deliver our targets we need to engage both businesses and citizens so they can play their part in tackling the challenges of climate change.
We already have, of course, cross-EU mechanisms to require industry to act – in namely the EU ETS.
I’m sure you are aware over 40% of emissions result from the actions we take as individuals – and there is more Government must do to help individuals make changes in their lives which reduce their carbon footprint.
The challenge we face is showing that individuals can make a difference; and that a low carbon lifestyle is not only possible, but is also normal and is desirable – not just the preserve of a small section of society.
And this is where our campaigning activity comes in. Our research tells us that although there are lots of pro environmental behaviour messages from NGOs and business, citizens are actually confused about how they can act. They also tell Government to lead.
Most UK citizens didn’t need convincing about the facts of climate change - they just wanted to know what they should do to act on it. And with this in mind we developed our Act on CO2 campaign.
The campaign has focused on helping people understand their carbon footprint, and then what they can do if they want to reduce it. We provided a simple tool.
A definitive online carbon calculator, which I think you will see demonstrated at lunch time. This calculator demonstrated to citizens that everyone has a carbon footprint and we all have a responsibility to change our behaviours. I think it has been an enormous success and we had almost 1m people visiting it within a single year.
To drive citizens to the calculator we had to have a major publicity campaign. It is led by Defra but involves other key departments those that deal with transport, business, education and innovation.
Importantly, major international brands such as Renault are supporting Act on CO2. And you’ll hear more about this partnership later today.
At present the campaign is progressing into phases of activity focusing on delivering real behaviour change. We will build on what we learn as this develops, and we are keen to share with you what we’ve learnt already – particularly about how ordinary people see environmental issues, what they see as the barriers to changing their behaviours and what has given us the best results in communication terms.
I haven’t the slightest doubt that public engagement is the key to long term efforts to avert dangerous climate change. But I’m also conscious of the changing global economy and the fact that people may turn away from interest in long term issues as they tighten their purses and focus on family finances.
So we will have to work harder. We will have to target our messages better and link them to current concerns. I don’t think that’s particularly difficult with energy prices rising and food prices soaring.
But we’re also keen to learn from the experiences of others. We want to see what we can learn both collectively as EU Member States and as individual countries with different cultures and social norms
So, I hope you are going to find this an enjoyable day here in Defra and I look forward to hearing of the outcomes of your deliberations. Thank you.
Page published: 16 May 2008