LBC: Tom Burke, Chairman and founding Director of environmental think tank E3G, and former government advisor. Morning Tom, why do people not care enough about the environment?
Tom Burke: I think people do care about the environment, and I think they do, in their lives across a whole range of issues, the things that are within their reach. So people will recycle, people will do things to improve the energy efficiency of their homes, but I think people also realise that this is a problem that takes governments to act. So they want government to do the things that only government can do, when they have done the bits they can.
LBC: In you view is the government acting? There’s a giant protest movement across the world which is suggests there is a recognition that the governments across the world haven’t done enough. Do you think that the fight against climate change is something that is winnable?
Tom Burke: I certainly think that the fight against climate change is something that is winnable, and I think we have done an awful lot in the last 30 years or so, but we’ve not done enough. The problem is getting worse faster than our efforts to deal with it at the moment. So we have to accelerate action to get a safe climate, and that’s why 195 leaders have turned up in Paris.
LBC: And what will be the practical and enforceable consequences of that in you view?
Tom Burke: Well I think the real thing will be to drive fossil fuels: oil, coal and gas, out of our energy mix, and to do that really quite fast, and really to invest a lot more in renewable energy sources and energy efficiency which would also get people’s bills down, and also in things like smart batteries to power our electric vehicles and so on.