As he prepared to step down in July as chief environmental adviser to the UK prime minister, Jonathan Porritt headed out for one last media blitz. His objective: to continue challenging the government on its green initiatives right up to his final days in office.

A sustainable existence is possible, the former Friends of the Earth director told interviewers, but the UK government has underperformed over the past decade and needs to match its high rhetoric with action.

Porritt, for nine years chairman of the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), lauded the recently published strategy to build a low-carbon economy. This aims for the UK to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 34%, from 1990 levels, and source 15% of energy from renewable, by 2020. And he heaps praise on Ed Miliband, head of the new Energy and Climate Change Department.

Upcoming Ethical Corporation conferences & events:
How to manage Social & Environmental Risk in the mining, oil & gas, steel and other heavy industries
London, 22-23 March 2010 The Responsible Business Summit 2010
Novotel West Hotel, London, 4th – 5th May 2010 The Inaugural Ethical Corporation Awards
Novotel West Hotel, London, Evening of 4th May 2010
The Awards will be held at the Responsible Summit -
on the evening of the first day
Please login to view whole article - or subscribe here.
For a free two week trial to Ethical Corporation online, please click here.