The environment has been David Cameron’s clearest break with the Conservative Party of the past. Labour has set ambitious carbon reduction targets but the lack of any meaningful international agreement at the Copenhagen summit has left the Government’s green credentials exposed. The Tories have scored points with environmentalists by opposing Heathrow expansion and supporting high speed rail but lasting green credibility requires more than symbolic policy shifts: it must see Britain fundamentally reshaping its economy to reduce emissions.

The Test:

In an effort to keep global temperature rise below 2 degrees, the UK has set a target of cutting CO2 emissions by 34 per cent of 1990 levels by 2020. By the end of the next parliament, a progressive government would need to be well on its way to meeting this – and have reduced them by at least 20 per cent by the end of the Parliament.