Barry Gardiner

Politician

1957-03-10

Quotes by Barry Gardiner

• Financial decision-makers at every level are recognising that fossil fuel investments risk their returns being undermined by stranded assets.

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• Whilst the developed world may say it wants to see much greater commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, this may only be politically feasible if there is strong support for adaptation measures in those countries at greatest immediate risk.

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• Climate change is real and anthropogenic; and the 5th Assessment Report of the IPCC has left the deniers little room for manoeuvre, but they are swiftly morphing into a new breed that accept the climate is changing but like to suggest this may have positive benefits.

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• Thanks to David Attenborough and 'Blue Planet 2,' we've become aware of the damage to our oceans from plastic pollution. We now know to use textile shopping bags instead of plastic, reuse coffee-cups and refuse polystyrene ones, and avoid plastic straws when ordering a drink at the bar.

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• Trade agreements influence the standards, protections and regulations that shape the kind of society we live in.

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• Most trade agreements arise from a desire to liberalise trade - making it easier to sell goods and services into one another's markets. Brexit will not.

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• We want trade agreements that aid development and increase prosperity, growth and productivity at home and in our trade partner countries.

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• Fear is a treacherous leader. It shrinks from the new and fails to meet the challenges of the future.

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• Treaties negotiated with foreign powers create binding obligations on future generations that cannot be repealed in the way that domestic law can. As a consequence, the most rigorous process should be in place to scrutinise such treaties before they ever come to be ratified.

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• Dictators have an old trick to assess the strength of their opposition: they say something patently untrue, and then look to see who mindlessly repeats it. Those who do, they recognise as their true supporters.

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• If government is so keen to let local people have a veto in stopping wind farms, why does it not allow local people to say no to fracking?

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• We're fighting for community energy initiatives, warmer homes and crucial flood defences - and fiercely opposing the Government's assault on renewables.

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• World leaders need to work together through the rules-based system of the WTO to tackle unfair practices, including the widespread dumping of steel on world markets at less than market price.

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• Science tells us we need to keep the majority of fossil fuels in the ground, and that we must urgently invest in renewable energy, and other alternative industries. Doing so would create millions of jobs, ensure a fair transition for fossil fuel workers into new industries, and avert the most catastrophic climate breakdown.

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• Our view has been that unless stringent environmental tests can be passed by would-be frackers, then no fracking should take place.

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• The mark of a bad leader is not to make the wrong decision. It is to make no decision at all.

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