E3G

Confidence in a low-carbon economy: John Ashton interview

By Chris Littlecott

Europe must have confidence that by making low-carbon choices it will become more competitive, prosperous and secure.

That’s the key theme of an interview with E3G Founding Director John Ashton, speaking in his role as Special Representative for Climate Change of the UK Foreign Office.

John also reflects on the nature of the political and diplomatic challenge faced, the role of Central and Eastern Europe, the need for confidence in engagement with China, and the way in which we define problems as ‘environmental’.

The interview was inspired by E3G’s ‘Europe in the World’ pamphlet, and featured in the Spring edition of Green Horizon magazine, published by the Regional Environmental Centre. The interview text follows here below. It is also published on the Green Horizon website, where a pdf version of the whole edition can be downloaded.

Confidence in a low-carbon economy

by Pavel Antonov

Tuesday, 22 May 2007

While enjoying a cup of tea and leafing through a copy of The Independent, John Ashton, the UK’s special representative for climate change, explains how low-carbon choices will make Europe more competitive, prosperous and secure.

Having just celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Rome Treaty, is Europe forgetting why it should be a leader in global sustainability?

In the middle of the second half of the 20th century, it was so evidently true that the sources of threats to European prosperity and security, as well as the economic opportunities, lay primarily within geographical Europe. The case now is that the main threats and opportunities lie outside our geographical frontiers.