Interview: Britain’s Energy Minister Promotes a New Green Deal for UK

Britain’s new ruling coalition knows it faces a formidable task if it is to fulfill its pledge of being “the greenest government ever.” But Greg Barker, the UK’s Energy and Climate Change Minister, says that even in the face of budget cuts and fiscal austerity, he is optimistic about what the coalition can do to put Britain on course for meeting its goal of cutting carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050. Barker, a former PR executive and Conservative member of Parliament, is promoting the government’s plan for a so-called new Green Deal, a program aimed at retrofitting Britain’s notoriously energy-wasteful homes with efficiency improvements, with no upfront cost to homeowners. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, Barker talks about how the Green Deal would work, the importance of offshore wind and other renewables in the UK’s future, the need for new nuclear plants in Britain, and the government’s plan for a green investment bank to help finance low-carbon technology. “We think that there is a clear commercial advantage for the UK in being an early mover in the drive to a clean economy,” he says.

Read the interview