“The political consensus on climate change has frayed,” said Labour party leader Ed Miliband on Thursday evening, who as energy and climate change secretary guided the Climate Change Act through parliament virtually unopposed. “When times got tough, some people headed for the hills.”

It’s not a great leap to infer that Miliband was referring to David Cameron, who has gone from hugging huskies in opposition to ditching “green crap” in office. As Miliband is the only alternative PM voters could chose, what he thinks about the environment and climate change matters. Judging by the speech he gave at the Green Alliance’s 35th birthday celebration, he is serious about both.

Visibly passionate, he began by saying climate change was an issue of equality: “It is the poorest and most vulnerable both around the world and in this country that suffer.”



Miliband then set out a series of points. First he said: “You cannot divorce green policy from economic policy”. This is vital as, in my opinion Cameron’s government have woefully undervalued the green economy, which grew throughout the recession and employs more people than teaching. At Labour party conference, one of Miliband’s pledges was to create a million green jobs.

Miliband then said he believed in devolution and decentralisation and that some policies, such as improving the energy efficiency of the UK’s ageing and leaky homes, would be far more effectively delivered locally.

Next Miliband said: “There can be no ambiguity about our place in the European Union if we want to tackle climate change.” He was speaking as the voters in Rochester were electing a second Ukip MP. He said the UK’s influence around the world on climate change was far greater as part of the EU. “If you are a party that is serious about climate change, you can’t be a party that wants to leave the EU.”



Miliband extolled the virtues of parks and green spaces for people’s quality of life and then warned the audience not to take the political consensus on climate change for granted.

Miliband was energy and climate change secretary for the 2009 climate summit in Copenhagen, which failed to seal a global deal. “That goes with the territory,” he said. “The history of social justice is you always have setbacks along the way.”

With the next opportunity to do a global deal approaching – Paris in 2015 – he urged green campaigners in the room to apply political pressure (as he did when in office in 2008): “Push us to do more.”

“We want the Paris summit to be a big moment when the world says this matters for our kids and for their kids,” he said. “There is no choice but for this movement to be successful.”

I asked him afterwards about his passionate delivery. He said: “Well, you know, I believe this stuff.”