13th November 2005

PM must address energy security in Lord Mayor's speech

STEPHEN TWIGG, Director of the Foreign Policy Centre today said:

"The Prime Minister, Tony Blair must address one of the most pressing concerns in foreign policy – Britain's energy security when he makes his annual speech to the Lord Mayor's banquet tomorrow.

"At a time of high oil prices, with massive demand on our dwindling supplies from rising powers such as India and China, the world's energy security is one of the most pressing challenges for collective foreign policy. Britain is increasingly reliant on oil and gas resources which are primarily sourced from areas of the world which are politically unstable and from regimes which do not respect human rights or international law."

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11th November 2005

Britain's Nuclear Future: Is Mox part of the Mix?

Venue: Committee Room 16, House of Commons

Time and Date: Tuesday 15 November from 17.00 to 18.00

With the government weighing up whether to commission a new generation of nuclear power stations with its commitments to energy security and reducing carbon dioxide emissions, the FPC event Britain's Nuclear Future: Is Mox part of the Mix? will provide an opportunity to hear from different political perspectives about the future of Britain's nuclear industry. This debate will seek to answer the question: 'Is nuclear power part of Britain's secure and sustainable energy future?'

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14 October 2005

Scottish Executive should implement energy wardens

STEPHEN TWIGG, Director of the Foreign Policy Centre, today said:

"I have written today to the First Minister, Jack McConnell MSP and the Environment Minister Ross Finnie MSP to urge them to consider the Foreign Policy Centre's proposals on the UK's Energy Security. At a time when oil prices are inflated and the UK is reliant on oil and gas supplies from regions which are politically unstable, renewable energy must play a greater part in a diverse energy mix.

"One of our key recommendations to the government and business community is to have 'energy wardens' to help improve efficiency at home and in the workplace."

Download Scottish Executive energy wardens (20 kilobyte PDF; need help viewing PDFs?)

On September 15 2005, Stuart Fraser of the Corporation of London gave a welcoming address at the launch of the FPC's Energy Security Programme.

He commented:

Tonight, with the launch of Re-engineering the Home Front, I believe we are taking the first steps in the construction of an atlas which will show us the way to a secure and prosperous future.

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By Fiona Hill. Source: The Globalist, 26th August 2004

Russia is back on the global strategic and economic map. For starters, it has regained the prominence in global energy markets it enjoyed in the 1970s and 1980s, when the Soviet Union - not Saudi Arabia — was the preeminent world oil producer. But Russia now has a "new soft power" role that extends far beyond its energy resources.

Full text 

By Rob Blackhurst. Source: Tuesday 18 May 2004

Energy policy has traditionally been the stuff of domestic politics. Governments in the past could pull the levers and decide which energy sources should fuel the economy. They made their decisions for a mixture of scientific, economic and pragmatic reasons – there were unions that needed to be squared, consumers that needed to be kept happy, and jobs that needed to be maintained.

Full text 

Dan Plesch, Greg Austin, Fiona Grant, Stephen Sullivan

March 2006 £9.95, plus £1 p+p.

Download Bio-Energy and CAP Reform (270 kilobyte PDF; need help viewing PDFs?)

Britain is falling behind on all of its climate change and renewable energy targets, even as scientific opinion grows ever more alarmed at the rate of global warming. There is a growing need for urgent and comprehensive action. The government will publish an energy policy review in mid-2005. It cannot be allowed a 'business as usual' approach or a continuation of gradual adjustments. This pamphlet will provide a close look at one area where a radical new approach can produce speedy results.

Further information 

Stephen Twigg, Dr Greg Austin, Dan Plesch, Fiona Grant

Download the report (250 kilobyte PDF; need help viewing PDFs?)

The UK Government has made the case for a rapid shift to renewable energy from a number of perspectives: national security, economic prosperity and protection of the global environment. Yet its targets in this area are among the lowest in Europe.

The UK clearly needs to change the way it thinks about its energy future. This pamphlet firstly sets the global scene by highlighting new global risks involved in continuing a 'business as usual' approach. It then looks more closely at how we on the 'home front' must respond to new security risks associated with energy policy.

Angie Austin

April 2005

Download Energy and Power in China (310 kilobyte PDF; need help viewing PDFs?)

The USA, EU and Britain have all recognised that domestic regulation of China's growing energy use and power industries constitute a 'global good', but the EU and Britain only recently instituted bilateral programs for promoting more efficient energy use by China through support of better domestic regularoty regimes.

This pamphlet urges the EU and Britain to urgently adjust their priorities for development cooperation with China in order to devote significantly more resources to the promotion of more effective regulation in China's energy sector.

Further information 

Date: Thursday, 28th February 2008

Speakers:

Gareth Thomas MP, DfID Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Richard Black, BBC

Graham Wynne, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

Chair: Stephen Twigg, FPC

About this event:

At the FPC's recent inaugural Annual Lecture, the Secretary of State for International Development, Rt Hon Douglas Alexander MP announced that the UK Government would increase its climate change research to £100 million over the next five years (a tenfold increase).

Continuing with the theme of exploring the centrality of environmental sustainability and global social justice, the FPC in partnership with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds held a seminar on "Sustaining our Environment: Is Climate Change the Only Ill?".

This event was kindly supported by the RSPB.

Download Gareth Thomas's Speech (40 kilobyte PDF; need help viewing PDFs?)

Richard Black's Presentation

Download Richard Black's presentation (660 kilobyte PDF; need help viewing PDFs?)

Climate Change and Global Social Justice

6 February 2008

The International Development Secretary, Rt Hon Douglas Alexander MP, in a major speech to the Foreign Policy Centre has argued that the world needs to shift its economic development to a low-carbon model. He also announced a tenfold increase in climate change research funding to £100 million over the next five years.

Giving the inaugural Foreign Policy Centre annual lecture at the LSE, the Development Secretary outlined his proposals for a new post-Kyoto global framework to tackle emissions. Mr Alexander argued that while developed countries must take a lead, developing countries must share the responsibility of change by 'leapfrogging' over polluting technologies toward a cleaner economy as their societies develop.

He said:

"Climate change is a defining global social justice issue for our generation. If we do not take the necessary action, we risk condemning the world's poorest people to generations of poverty."

Read more

Download the full speech (110 kilobyte PDF; need help viewing PDFs?)

FPC & Business for New Europe

Finsbury Group, Tenter House, London

High oil prices, Europe's increasing dependency on a few external suppliers (mainly OPEC and Russia), new concerns relating to long-term availability of fossil fuels and the urgency of new greenhouse gas mitigation measures have restarted a debate on the need for a European Energy Policy.

The European Commission on 8 March 2006 issued a 'Green Paper' listing a number of options to achieve "sustainable, competitive and secure" energy supplies in the EU.

Malcolm Wicks MP, Minister for Energy, was the keynote speaker. Also speaking were Nick Mabey, founder member of E3G and a former member of the Prime Minister's strategy team, and Roger Carr (Chairman of Centrica plc). The event was chaired by Roland Rudd, Chairman of Business for New Europe (and Senior Partner at Finsbury International).

This event launched a new high-intensity and high-visibility project by the FPC and partner organisations, to change attitudes in the UK government, the private sector, and the community to bring about a more rapid shift to renewable energy sources.

The project is in its early stages and will seek to bring in key partners and constituencies as it proceeds. The culmination of the project will be the production of an Action Plan in June 2006. This launch event will involve three short presentations and comment from panel members before opening for a general discussion.

Co- Chairs: Stephen Twigg, Director, FPC; Stuart Fraser, Deputy Chairman of Policy and Resources Committee, Corporation of London

Speakers: Professor David Fisk, Imperial College; Dan Plesch, Senior Associate, FPC 'The New Urgency for Renewables'; Dr Shimon Awerbuch, University of Sussex: 'Harnessing the Oil-GDP Effect for Renewables'; Charlie McGrath, former Army counter-terrorism officer: 'The National Security Imperative'; Phil Bloomer, Oxfam: 'Renewables and International Development'

Transcript of Speeches

This transcript is a record of the Foreign Policy Centre debate at the Labour Party Conference 2004: "Should Environmentalists Learn to Love Nuclear?" Speakers Michael Meacher MP and Martin O'Neill MP discussed whether nuclear power is needed for meeting Britain's target of a 60% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050 to help tackle climate change.

Vuvu Msutwana-Qupe provided insight into how other countries deal with the same problems, with a presentation on South Africa's approach. In an original preface, Rod Liddle argues that we should overcome unfounded distaste for nuclear energy and recognise its overwhelming economic and environmental benefits.

Download the report (230 kilobyte PDF; need help viewing PDFs?)