Campaigners deliver ‘Trojan Horse’ to David Ward MP

Monday, 18 June 2012

Campaigners delivered a ‘Trojan Horse’ to David Ward MP today, demanding a real green economy ahead of the Rio+20 Earth Summit taking place in Brazil from 20 – 22 June. 

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will join government leaders around the world in Rio de Janeiro to discuss how to move towards a ‘green economy’. But campaigners say that the government’s version of the green economy is a ‘Trojan horse for bankers’ that will lead to more environmental damage and greater inequality.

David Somerville from the Bradford World Development Movement group said:

‘We need a real green economy that prioritises economic justice and sustainable development, not a Trojan horse for bankers. The proposed version looks great on the surface but it could be deadly for people and the environment.

The government wants to put a financial value on nature to bring it into the market. But this kind of approach will take the control of natural resources like water and forests away from local communities and give it to distant, unaccountable corporations. Putting a market value on things like forests is not the way to make the world fairer or halt climate change.

We ask David Ward to write to Nick Clegg before he travels to Rio, asking him to push for a real green economy.’

David Ward welcomed the fact that “there is a strong voice warning of the dangers of taking this ‘green agenda’ at face value; the ‘green agenda’ could be misleading.” He noted that the earth’s natural capital is finite and therefore must be treated with care.