Commenting on the climate march in London yesterday, ahead of the start of the climate talks in Paris today, Seb Berry, Head of External Affairs at Solarcentury comments:
“Solarcentury staff were very proud to lead off the Greenpeace section during yesterday’s London climate march. Some thirty staff joined with Emma Thompson and Greenpeace activists in pausing outside the gates of Downing St to unfurl an enormous “Don’t Pull the Plug on Solar” banner. This was a visual reminder to the Prime Minister that it is no good the UK Government claiming to be a leader on climate change on the international stage, while simultaneously taking the axe to solar and other renewables at home. Last week, Andrea Leadsom MP incredibly told MPs that the Government had provided “certainty” for investors since the election and at COP21 the Government will claim to be leading the World by domestic “example.”
The reality however is that it is December tomorrow, and no-one in the UK solar industry knows whether there’ll still be a feed-in tariff by next February. Such has been the shock pace of change and u-turn since the election that the Government now faces at least six legal challenges from across the renewables industry, either already launched or in their early stages. Not all of these are solar specific but they all are solar relevant. This is a truly unprecedented state of affairs within just seven months of a General Election. Despite yesterday’s huge turnout on the London climate march, it was disappointing that of all the major parties, only the Conservative party failed to provide a speaker. Their absence speaks volumes.”