The likelihood of the coalition Government living up to its 'greenest Government ever' pledge is "vanishingly remote" without a huge improvement in its performance, former Sustainable Development Commission chairman Jonathon Porritt has warned in a Friends of the Earth commissioned report.
Following the scrapping of the Sustainable Development Commission earlier this year there is now no formal scrutiny of the Government's green record - a void Friends of the Earth says it aims to help fill with its new report series.
At the request of the green campaigning charity, Jonathon Porritt has reviewed the Government's performance over the last year and analysed how well it matched up to green promises made in both opposition and in power.
The report concludes:
· The Government is failing to deliver on most of its key green pledges and many policies have been delayed, watered down or even abandoned. The report examined 77 green policies - and found little or no progress in over three quarters of them (58).
· There is little evidence of the Prime Minister using his personal political capital to make an impact on the Government's overall sustainability performance.
· The Lib Dems have failed to promote their green agenda with sufficient rigour inside the coalition, and their backbenchers have failed to hold their own ministers to account.
· Government promises to create tens of thousands of new green jobs are evaporating. George Osborne promised: "If I become Chancellor, the Treasury will become a green ally, not a foe" - but the opposite has proved to be the case, according to FoE.
· It is impossible for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to deliver comprehensive, integrated plans to address climate change strategically when the rest of Whitehall is fundamentally disengaged - and the Treasury is hostile. And FoE argues that Government pledges to enhance and protect the natural environment are being undermined by a considerably weakened Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [DEFRA], which receives little support from the Cabinet Office or Prime Minister.
· The Big Society appears to be driven by the ideological priority to shrink the size of the state - rather than delivering substantial improvements in people's local environment and quality of life.
Jonathon Porritt said: "The Prime Minister's own credibility is at stake here - as is that of the Liberal Democrats who have clearly failed to use their influence inside the Coalition to ensure a better performance on the environment and sustainable development.
"It's certainly not too late, but things are going to have to change dramatically to make up lost ground."
Friends of the Earth's Executive Director Andy Atkins added: "Confidence in David Cameron's boast to run the 'greenest government ever' is fading fast.
"Rather than creating a green and safe future, his Government has steadily dismantled pledges and policies that would help him achieve it.
"David Cameron could be building a prosperous low-carbon economy out of the rubble of the old, creating new jobs and industries for recession-hit Britain -
but green development is continually being sacrificed in favour of growth at any cost.
"Unless the Prime Minister starts to show real political courage and leadership on the environment his green ambitions will simply be more hot air."
Ekland Solar, Devon around 11 months ago