Speech by Phil Woolas MP to the Midwestern Governors Association's Energy Security and Climate Stewardship Summit: Towards a green industrial revolution, Milwaukee, WI, USA, 15 November 2007
Thank you very much for your kind words, and for your invitation to this magnificent conference.
When the Prime Minister asked me to take on the job as Minister for Climate Change and the Environment, he specifically asked me to take on the challenge of securing international agreement to tackle climate change over the next couple of years.
The fact of the matter is that the threat of climate change is so great, that two years may be too long. That is why I’ve come here today, to ask the Midwest to help in demonstrating international leadership.
Over the past four months I travelled to four continents, talking with Ministers in over 100 countries across the world in the build-up to the UN Climate Negotiations in Bali.
One thing comes through above all else. All countries accept the reality of man made climate change. And the one thing that comes through is the need for the US to lead. This means the mid-West taking its place centre-stage, and do to what you’re doing, and what you’re good at. Innovating, and creating solutions.
I serve the people of Oldham, Manchester, where the Industrial revolution began. We took cotton from the United States. We took coal to make power. Two centuries on, our economy has not taken a nosedive. Since 1997 our economy has grown by 28% but our absolute greenhouse gas emissions have gone down by 7%. Economic prosperity and climate change mitigation can take place together.
Oldham, Manchester also hosted Winston Churchill when he began his life in politics, elected to the British Parliament in 1900. He stood out as a lone voice in the darkest days before the second world war, as the Nazi threat grew across Germany and Europe. His most famous speech was his commitment not to surrender. It galvanised the population of my country. But what is most important is not just the call of defiance by the British, but the second half of the speech, to the United States:
“We shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until in God’s good time, the new world, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and liberation of the old”.
The most famous speech of the Second World War was a special plea to the United States to take leadership.
All of my colleagues across the world see the US as the necessary ingredient for success in the war against climate change. My message today is also a plea. To take what you’re doing here in the Mid-West, to the world stage, and show leadership across the globe.
The Industrial Revolution in Manchester, England began the age of manufacturing, of industry, and of coal. This legacy of coal persists across much of the world today, in the infrastructure of our power stations and factories.
The last century was also characterised by fossil fuels – it was the age of oil. Transportation brought people and economies closer together. But the consequence has been that we started this century - oil dependent.
Dirty coal and oil have forced great challenges upon this new century. Threats to the security of our energy supply, and a crisis facing our climate.
But out of these twin challenges we can create opportunities.
I have come here today, to the heart of America, to ask the Midwest assume the mantle of leadership.
I have come from the country, which two centuries ago incubated the first industrial revolution, to call for a new industrial revolution. One in renewable energy, biofuels, clean coal and carbon markets. A green industrial revolution.
My message to you is this. Capitalism got us into this. Capitalism can get us out of it.
Energy security and climate change are now two sides of the same coin. They won’t stay that way for very long, so we must take advantage of them while they are.
Challenges
Energy
The challenge of energy security is familiar to us all. The price of oil is hovering around $100 a barrel. The consequences are uncertain and alarming.
And our energy needs are vulnerable to wider geopolitics. Control over energy supply is concentrated in a small number of countries. This gives them unprecedented power over those who rely on their exports.
And our addiction to oil isn’t just fuelling our cars, but in some cases, also fuelling extremism. As leaders in your country have said, we’re funding both sides of the war on terror.
We are faced then, with a kind of double jeopardy. First, our energy supplies can be cut off on a whim, threatening our economy and national security. Second, our need to consume oil, at almost any price, is strengthening those who threaten our national security even further.
Now it’s important we don’t just have a knee-jerk reaction. I believe in building understanding, not barricades. We need to appeal to the moderates in these countries, and encourage liberal, free markets.
But we need an insurance policy. With geopolitics still uncertain, and at $100 a barrel, we must invest in alternative energy sources.
But lastly, think of this. As countries move to greater energy independence, we cannot turn our back on the energy producing nations. We must support the moderates as their economies diversify away from oil. The consequences of not doing so are even more threatening to geopolitics.
But energy security has forced innovation before.
In the 1970s it led to the creation of Petrobras in Brazil, the largest produce of biofuels. In France energy security has led to the largest nuclear industry in Europe. In Poland last week the general election was fought on the issue of domestic coal and Russian gas.
In my country we have commissioned the largest off-shore wind farm in the world and we are looking at the largest tidal energy generator in the world which we estimate will provide 5% of our electricity needs in one barrage.
Climate
But I come to this summit conscious of an even bigger threat to our way of life.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has a clear and stark message: such has man’s power become, that we are causing our climate to change.
Later on this week in Valencia, Spain they will publish the summary of their fourth assessment report.
It is based on the world’s pre-eminent scientists, including from my Government in the UK and from here in the Midwest.
They’re report will make most Hollywood disaster movies look like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
Atmospheric CO2 is now around 35% higher than before the industrial revolution. Temperatures over the last century have risen by almost 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit.
In 2003, the heat wave in Europe caused 35,000 excess deaths.
Sea level rises from melting ice put 80 million people at risk of flooding. Millions could be displaced in low-lying countries such as in Bangladesh. We could soon see waves of environmental refugees.
And as glaciers melt around the Himalayas, water resources for millions in China, India and much of South Asia will become more scarce. And with more people and nations competing for scarce resources, we could see the first water wars.
Some of my colleague Ministers have developed contingency evacuation plans in case of flooding, or other natural disasters.
The US Joint Intelligence Committee and National Intelligence Council are both looking into the security implications of climate change. They are right. It is an issue of national security.
The impacts of Climate Change are truly terrifying.
They will also be expensive. Some argue we can’t afford to take action. The truth is that we can’t afford not to.
The groundbreaking Review of the Economics of Climate by Sir Nicholas Stern was commissioned by the Prime Minister when he was Chancellor
It puts the economic costs of climate change as worse than the Great Depression and two World Wars put together.
This is not an exaggeration. In my own Ministry we faced floods this summer which cost £3bn.
Opportunities
As political leaders, we must confront these challenge. And we are faced with a choice.
One is a path of restriction, where we punish consumption, ration our use of energy, cut back on growth and aspiration. Some in the environmental movement would argue for that direction. That we should wear a hair-shirt.
And the other, to continue to consume and develop, but transforming the productivity and way in which we use our natural resources. To innovate and grow in a way which guarantees our energy supply while providing new jobs and safeguarding the climate.
UK
This is why I think my country has something to offer.
We are on course to achieve nearly double the target we committed to in the Kyoto agreement.
Our environmental industries sector is flourishing. With over 400,000 people employed in 17,000 companies, with an annual turnover of $55 billion – roughly the same as the UK pharmaceuticals and aerospace sectors.
Manchester was the first industrial city in the world. Its might was based on water power and cotton from America, and latterly on steam power and coal. Air quality and the climate suffered. Now Manchester is a prosperous and flourishing city, but it is no longer reliant on coal. By grasping the challenge you can grow your economy.
Our message is not to stop doing things, but to change the way you do them. Our message to developing countries is not that you can’t prosper, but that they only way you can safeguard prosperity is by taking account of climate change in your development.
I go back to my earlier message, capitalism can solve the problem capitalism created. But we cannot rely on markets alone. Political leadership is essential.
Today the UK Government has published our Climate Change Bill. It will make the UK the first country to enshrine in national legislation long-term targets to reduce our emissions.
It will put into law a target to reduce carbon dioxide by at least 60% on 1990 levels by 2050. An independent Committee will advise whether this target should be stronger still
And to deliver on these targets, we use policies such as regulation, taxation, investment in clean technology.
And we harness the power of the market by using cap and trade. The United Kingdom is part of an EU-wide emissions trading scheme. We are currently in the trial phase. We have created a carbon market covering over eleven and a half thousand installations across Europe. Roughly half of all the EU’s emissions come from these plants.
It’s a remarkable achievement, but the true test will be in the next phase, from 2008-12 which coincides with the Kyoto Commitment period. We have learnt lessons from this trial phase. There is a tighter cap. Already the future carbon price is hovering around $30 a tonne. And early next year, we will be outlining plans for the future of EU ETS, which will make it stronger still.
Crucially for British business, we have designed our policies so that any impacts on competitiveness are minimised.
The last thing any political leader would want to do is stand up and compromise his or her country’s manufacturing base. These concerns are crucial. But they must be based on hard evidence. Many studies, by McKinseys and others, have shown that that competitiveness arguments are often overstated.
Factors such as incomes, productivity, access to markets and technologies and existing infrastructure and investment are more important than environmental standards.
Competitiveness should not be a reason to abandon the policies, but cause to refine them.
I know that cap and trade schemes are being developed here in the Midwest. I hope that today’s summit will take this many steps forward. And can I urge you to think to the future, and to think how we can link our carbon markets together one day.
The UK has already been sharing experiences with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the Western Climate Initiative and I will be visiting the Chicago Climate Exchange later today. I am pleased to see representatives from there here today. Countries and States that are developing mandatory cap and trade recently came together at the International Carbon Action Partnership
This cooperation and harmonisation must continue, and we must learn from our experiences to build stronger markets.
Just as stock exchanges of London, Chicago, Tokyo and New York epitomise the capitalism of today; the developing carbon markets will represent a part of the capitalism of tomorrow.
And the British Consulate-General in Chicago, our Embassy in Washington and the British Government in London stand ready to help in the development. We have already signed bilateral climate agreements between the UK and California and Florida. We would be delighted to reach similar agreements with the Midwest.
Midwest
The greater the partnership, the more we can achieve.
I talked about the two paths, restrict and retreat or innovate and grow. The answer is obvious. The prize is great. Here in the Midwest you are uniquely well placed to seize it.
And today, through the Midwestern Governors Association, you are beginning to do just that.
I was given this plastic bag today. Made of biodegradable material. Made from crops grown here in the Midwest. We don’t have to ban things to prevent problems, just innovate.
- Here in Wisconsin you have created the Governor’s Task Force on Global Warming, developing ideas such as market-based mechanisms.
- In Minnesota, you have passed goals of reducing emissions below 80% by 2050 into legislation.
In your role as Chair of the National Governors Association, Governor Pawlenty put clean, secure energy at the top of the agenda, along with the work of Co-Chair Governor Kathleen Sebelius [of Kansas].
- South Dakota is looking to exploit its ample agricultural resources for bioethanol.
- In Illinois, your Climate Change Advisory Group has recently recommended a cap and trade approach, and I understand that Minnesota and Wisconsin and perhaps other states are looking at developing a cap-and-trade programme as well.
- I know that North Dakota, is starting to realise its enormous potential for producing biofuels.
- And Iowa is positioning itself to become one of America’s leaders in energy production, with incredible potential for wind, ethanol and biodiesel production. And as host to the first Presidential Primaries, you have a unique opportunity shape the national debate on climate change and energy security.
I am particularly pleased to see Garry Doer, the Premier of Manitoba here. Canada has been a leading nation in the fight against climate change since it signed the Kyoto Protocol, and I know that Manitoba has been at the forefront of that fight.
You have harnessed your great resources in hydro, wind and geothermal energy, and shown leadership with strong building codes and energy efficiency. And I know that you have personally committed to go even further.
The world will look on today and see representatives from the UK, Canada and the US standing together and committing to action. International partnership is essential to tackle what is global problem.
That is why I believe all our efforts must be grounded in the UN’s international Framework Convention on Climate Change.
I will be with my Secretary of State in Bali, Indonesia in five weeks time to start the process of working out the next stage of the global.
I have spoken to my counterparts in India, South Africa, Brazil and other developing countries. They know we will look to them to commit to action to reduce emissions.
I have spoken to Ministers in China. They have pledged to increase renewables to 15% by 2020. They have set an energy efficiency target of 20% by 2010. This will reduce CO2 by an incredible 1.85 billion tonnes against business as usual.
But no country in the developing world will commit to more ambitious action unless they see we in the developed world take the lead with binding targets.
And everyone I have spoken to, from every country including my own, is looking to the US to demonstrate leadership.
Your declaration today will be vital.
The Midwest is the energy centre of the world’s largest economy. Your region is already ahead of the game on biofuels, renewables and clean coal. We need to harness the political will and leadership from today to help bring the whole US into a new global deal.
The world is watching.
Conclusion
Thank you to you all for inviting me here to join you today.
Thank you to the Joyce Foundation as the major supporter of the event, and the other partners. I understand that the Joyce Foundation supported some of the initial work that led to the Chicago Climate Exchange. And I thank you for this.
There is a hotel in Manchester not dissimilar to this one called the Midland Hotel. In there, in 1904, Mr Rolls and Mr Royce met. They decided to go into business together, and the Rolls-Royce motorcar was born.
And only one year before, in this fine city of Milwaukee, in 1903, Bill Harley and Arthur Walter Davidson developed a one-cylinder motorcycle. The following year, the first Harley-Davidsons were sold.
Within the many stories of pioneering, and of innovation is often the story of partnership.
And that is why I am glad to be with you today. From Manchester to Milwaukee, as we face new challenges, which will require new pioneers, and new partnerships.
We can turn the challenges of energy security and climate change into opportunities. Out of them we can create new jobs in clean energy and green fuel.
It will take a green industrial revolution to get us there. But just as human ingenuity and leadership took us through the first industrial revolution, so it will this one.
The role the Midwest plays in a global economy will be transformed due to the innovation, new technology and leadership. The benefits will be felt in your state and by your people, as well as by my people in the United Kindgom, and the rest of the world. I wish you all power to your elbow.
Thank you.
Page published: 19 November 2007