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I was speaking at a Fabians breakfast fringe meeting at the Labour party conference this morning. It was on green investment and also speaking were Emily Thornberry, shadow for climate change and Michael Jacobs, former no.10 adviser on climate change. There's a consensus over the importance of inward investment but also anxiety that massive cuts to departmental budgets bring instability and insecurity to the sector. As Emily pointed out, for a small department like the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC), 40 per cent cuts will reduce it to nuclear clean ups and that's about it. There was a lot of support for retrofitting and skilling up people to deliver energy improvements to homes - giving us the tools to tackle our own energy consumption. I'd like to see energy reduction embedded into government policy at all levels. An example - the Winter Fuel Allowance needs to focus at least as much on saving energy, not just meeting the cost of using more. The funds should be reorientated, so the payment can be used to insulate homes (perhaps with two for one vouchers?) rather then simply helping people, however needy, as they consume more fuel. We need to start joining up policy on green issues if we are to get the most from the pared-down budgets that are still available.
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