Environment threats 'neglected'

None of the three major political parties are showing enough commitment to tackling the range of environmental threats faced by the UK, a group of leading environment groups have warned.

An assessment of Tory, Labour and Lib Dem "green credentials" by the organisations found the Conservative Party had a "stark" gap between its rhetoric and its policy commitments on the environment since the 2005 election.

Labour was commended for displaying international leadership on climate change, but was criticised for failing to meets its renewable energy targets, stop rising greenhouse gas emissions in the UK and implement a marine Bill.

The Liberal Democrats scored best in the series of tests, with an "ambitious" set of policies to tackle climate change, but the report raised "serious concerns" about the party's policies on the natural world and planning.

The Green Standard assessment, by the Green Alliance, RSPB, Friends of the Earth, the Woodland Trust, WWF, the Wildlife Trusts, the National Trust, the Campaign to Protect Rural England and Greenpeace tested the parties against a series of criteria.

These criteria were: domestic action on climate change, international action on climate change, enabling "green living", the natural environment, planning and environmental taxes and subsidies.

They were awarded a green, amber or red light in each area - with the top grade awarded for both ambition and commitment to green policies, amber for a mixed picture, and red to show concern for a party's approach to the area and lack of positive commitment.

According to the How Green Are Our Parties? The Green Standard report, the Government has been "timid" in its attempts to green the tax system and on tackling climate change at home, but gained its one green light for international action on the issue.

And it got the lowest grade - a red light - for planning, because of its heavy focus on economic development and not sustainability.

While the climate change Bill would make the UK the first country in the world to have a legal framework for transferring to a low-carbon economy, the report warned plans for airport expansion, road building and new coal power stations were undermining progress.