40% Of Voters Want To Hear More About The Environment

Written by Tom Burke

05 May 2015

E3G is today publishing ‘Changing the Game’ a 10 point programme for government that will put the environment to work for the economy. For too long Britain’s environmentalists have asked British Governments to do more for the environment. It is now time to turn the tables and tell the government what the environment can do for Britain’s economy.

What voters are not being told

Properly insulating people’s homes would drive down energy bills permanently, help save the NHS £1.3 billion a year, create 100,000 jobs and pay for itself by 2024.
Stronger controls on air pollution would cut the £15 billion/year it costs the NHS.
Buying electricity to fuel your car is half the cost of buying petrol or diesel.
An honest carbon tax would recycle its revenues into paying for the investment to avoid dangerous climate change.
Britain needs a powerful Department of Natural Resources to balance the ‘growth at any price’ mentality of the Treasury.

“Neither of the potential Prime Ministers has offered much in this election to the 4.5 million supporters of Britain’s 140 environmental organisations. It is time to move beyond making polite requests and to start punching our real weight”

said E3G Chairman, Tom Burke.

“The next government will invest £200 billion on critical infrastructure for growth over its life. Their proposals will do too little for growth and too much damage to the environment. Our programme would be better for both. We will be working after May 7th to mobilise the whole of Britain’s environment community behind it.”

Notes for Editors

YouGov poll published on 28th April 2015.
7% of Britain’s population belong to an environmental organisation, not counting the National Trust. This is 10x the membership of all the political parties combined. ‘Passionate Collaboration’ Report to the Environmental Funders Network, November 2013
Tom Burke CBE is one of Britain’s most influential environmentalists. He is Chairman of E3G which he co-founded in 2004. He has led three of Britain’s prominent environmental organisations, Friends of the Earth, the Green Alliance and E3G. He has also worked for every British government since 1991, serving in the Department of the Environment (as a Special Advisor to three Secretaries of State ), the Cabinet Office, the Foreign Office and on the Council of English Nature. He has advised many of Britain’s leading companies including Rio Tinto, BP, Standard Chartered, Shell and Unilever.
E3G was founded in 2004 by John Ashton, Tom Burke and Nick Mabey as an independent, non-profit organisation operating in the public interest to accelerate the global transition to sustainable development.