Hilary Benn MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs speaks to the Labour Party Conference, Manchester, Wednesday 24 September 2008.

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Conference, I want to begin by expressing my thanks to Phil Woolas, Jeff Rooker, Joan Ruddock and Jonathan Shaw for all their hard work and dedication this past year, to all the public servants with whom we have the privilege of working, and to all of you for your encouragement and support.

Since we met a year ago, we have made progress.

In Britain our carbon dioxide emissions fell by more than 10 million tonnes last year, and thanks to Gordon’s strong leadership, Labour’s groundbreaking Climate Change Bill is about to become law. And as Gordon announced yesterday, we will now ask the Committee on Climate Change to bring forward its advice so that we can consider whether to amend the 2050 target up to 80% before the bill becomes law.

In Bali last December we took a big step towards a global climate deal.
Europe’s offer – in return for that deal – is to cut emissions by 30% by 2020, as well as capping emissions from aviation.

We have begun work on the most ambitious plan for renewable energy this country has ever seen. We’ve started to build the wind turbines that will produce clean electricity, creating thousands of new green jobs – many in British manufacturing – and helping to make our energy supply secure.

We’re recycling more.

We’ve set out how we will protect our seas and the wonders that lie beneath them and open up our coastline in the Marine Bill - for which so many have campaigned for so long. And because we need to take action now, we’ve put an end to destructive dredging in Lyme Bay.

We’ve worked with farmers to deal with diseases like avian flu and bluetongue, and we’ve made a difficult decision on bovine TB and badgers.

We’re building more flood defences, Last year we protected another 43,000 homes, but there’s still much to do.

And we’re close to creating a new national park in the South Downs.

Together, we’ve achieved all this in just twelve  months.

And, Conference, having this year celebrated the 60th anniversary of the founding of the NHS, next year we will mark the 60th anniversary of Labour’s National Parks Act.

As he was taking the Bill through Parliament, Lewis Silkin famously said:

‘Now at last we shall be able to see that the mountains… moors… dales… and tors belong to the people as a right and not as a concession. This is not just a Bill. It is a people’s charter… With it the countryside is theirs to preserve, to cherish, to enjoy and to make their own.’
That belief helped to open up our countryside – land shaped and cared for by the people who live and work there. The farmers we rely on for our food. The rural businesses creating jobs. The landscape that lifts our spirits and inspires us.

And as we face the future, we can now see that our world is a smaller place than when the NHS and the National Parks were born. The storm that hit the housing market in America took no time in crossing the Atlantic. Rising food and energy prices do not take long to reach our shores. We feel the impact at the supermarket check-out and the petrol pump.

We now see what happens when we take the earth’s resources for granted and we now understand that we must value its gifts and share them fairly. 

In difficult times – times of change – people look to us for leadership and for hope. In Leeds, as in every community, people want to know: what can you do to help us find homes we can afford, protect our savings, and cut our fuel bills?

We’re listening and we’re acting. Every pensioner will this year get an increase in the Winter Fuel payment. Social tariffs for those on the lowest incomes so they get lower bills. More help with insulation. More money for central heating through Warm Front.

Practical help that will reduce bills, not just in the first year but every year. And how did this happen?

Because we act when times get tough, and we’ll do whatever it takes to see the country through.

Labour wasn’t afraid to say to the energy companies – and the generators – you must do much more to help people to save energy and save money.

And that’s exactly what we’ve done.

And do you know what the Tories said last week about all this ? 

“Labour has got nothing to offer”. 

Well they know all about that, don’t they?  What did they do to help people with their bills when they were in government ?

Winter Fuel Payments? No. 

Help to pay for central heating in one and half million homes?  No.

Loft and cavity wall insulation funded by billions of pounds from the energy companies? No.

That’s the difference in our politics. That’s the difference between a party that’s changed its words and a party – our party – that wants to change the world.

But, Conference, as well as providing help today, we also need to prepare for tomorrow.

Some people say: “Can we afford to fight climate change when times are tough?”

Yes, we can.  

And yes, we must.

Because now – and in the years ahead - it won’t be a choice between either fighting climate change or building a strong economy.

A low carbon Britain will be the strong economy of the future.

Making us less dependent on oil and gas that’s costing us the earth.

Using resources more wisely.

Building industries and creating the million green jobs that will sustain us into the future.

We’ve started already.  The first electricity from offshore wave power was generated here in Britain. 

We will soon be the world leader in generating electricity from the wind that blows across our seas.
Think of the potential.

We can insulate our homes and make sure the new homes we build use less energy or generate their own.

We can run our cars on batteries powered by renewables or hybrid engines, and save money too.

Farmers and our national parks can manage the land to keep the carbon in and so help the fight against climate change.

And the more we cut our emissions, the stronger the leadership we can give to achieve a new climate deal for the world.

We need it fast. We need it to be fair.

And we need to make it work because the lives of millions of people, all across the world, depend upon it.

We will not let them down.
Conference, whenever we have faced great tasks throughout our history, two qualities - above all others - have stood us in good stead.

Our optimism and our beliefs.

Not everyone thinks there’s something called society.

Some people are so busy looking out for themselves that they don’t look out for others.

Some are cynical about the capacity of politics to change things.

But that’s not how we see the world.

We are Labour because we believe in the power of human beings – through politics – to transform our society and change our world.

We believe that our shared humanity is more important than our differences.

We believe that ideas, and courage, and sheer determination can make possible that which once seemed impossible.

That’s how we got every child into a classroom. That’s how we created our National Health Service, our National Parks, the minimum wage. That’s how we cancelled debt in developing countries.

And it is that same optimism and that same belief that will give us the courage to win this fight too, not just for our generation but for the generations to come.

Thank you.