Can we ever build a green economy?

TUC Climate Change Conference, 6 November 2014

Thursday 6 November 2014, 09.15-13.00, Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS

This national half day conference will set out the importance of taking international and national action to address climate change.

With the economic recovery finally underway, growing public understanding of the role greener growth could play and all parties committed to strengthening the government’s approach to industrial policy, what more needs to be done to shift the UK towards a lower carbon economy? How can we achieve the substantial shifts we need in power generation, business finance and energy efficiency to give our climate change objectives any chance of being met?

With new work from Lord Stern (noted LSE economist and author of the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change) set to develop the case that immediate action to decarbonise our economy will be far more effective than action delayed, as well as boosting overall growth rates, a strong policy response has never been as important.

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 what can civil society organisations do to strengthen the case for change? How can we ensure that a strong and comprehensive UN agreement is reached in 2015?

Speakers at this importance event include:

•Sir David King, Special Representative for Climate Change, Foreign and Commonwealth Office

•Frances O’Grady, TUC General Secretary

•Rt Hon Caroline Flint MP Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change

•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