Monday, 5th June 2006

Trade Secretary, Alistair Darling, put demand reduction at the heart of energy policy in a major speech to the Fabian Environmental Policy Network.

Energy companies should profit not from selling as much energy as possible but by working with customers to reduce energy use so that Britain can meet its climate change targets, Trade Secretary Alistair Darling told the Fabian Society, making his first major speech on energy policy to mark World Environment Day at a meeting of the Fabian Environmental Policy Network on June 5th 2006.

"Demand reduction, not just energy efficiency, has to be our real goal', said Darling, signalling that the challenge of reducing energy use while enabling the economy to grow will be a major theme of the government's forthcoming energy review.

This would require a radical shift in the regulatory and business model for energy. 'We need to transform the energy market. We need to turn conventional wisdom on its head', argued Darling.

Alistair Darling spoke on 5th June 2006 to the Fabian Environmental Policy Network.

Full text of speech

Event report

The Fabian Society's Environmental Policy Network brings together political, policy, business, civil society and academic participants to discuss key themes in environmental politics and policy. Attendance is by invitation only.

For further information about the network, or to discuss membership, please contact Tim Gore, Network Co-ordinator.