Can we ever build a green economy?

This TUC national conference held on 6^th November 2014 set out the importance of taking international and national action to address climate change.

Latest evidence from the UN warns that we face a “very high risk of severe, widespread, and irreversible impacts” from the global impacts of climate change. With the UN also arguing that climate change is a “collective action” problem at the global scale, this calls for an effective and concerted response from governments, businesses, unions and all of us as citizens. We also know that national action alone will not be enough. With next year set to be an unprecedented period of climate change diplomacy internationally, this conference asked what can civil society organisations do to strengthen the case for change? And how can we ensure that a strong and comprehensive UN agreement is reached in 2015?

Speakers at this important event included:

• Sir David King, Special Representative for Climate Change, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
• Frances O’Grady, TUC General Secretary    
• Jonny Roberts MP, Shadow Energy Minister     
• Professor Paul Ekins, Director, Professor of Resources and Environmental Policy, UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources
• Will McDowall, Senior Research Associate, UCL Energy Institute/UCL Green Economy Commission
• Fergus Green, Policy Analyst and Advisor to Lord Stern, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change           
• Dr Doug Parr, Chief Scientist, Greenpeace
• Chair: Sue Ferns, Director of Research & Communications at Prospect and TUC General Council lead on climate change and the environment

The event also saw the launch of two expert essay essays setting out the importance of a new climate deal.

• Green innovation: industrial policy for a low carbon future, shows how government can create a “dynamic and vibrant innovation system” that meets society’s environmental and economic aspirations. The direction the UK’s economic growth now takes depends much on government vision and leadership in driving eco-innovation, by Professor Paul Ekins and Will McDowall.
• This Time is Different: The Prospects for an Effective Climate Agreement in Paris 2015, looks at the “policy architecture” of a Paris 2015 agreement and how it can be made effective with regard to mitigation, learning the hard lessons of the UN’s Copenhagen conference in 2009, by Fergus Green, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change.