Oxford taskforce slams government energy policy
June 11th 2007

The Government's policy on energy is incoherent and the measures set out are unlikely to deliver, a report by a high-level taskforce chaired by the Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Lord Patten of Barnes, has stated.

The report, ‘Energy, Politics and Poverty’ follows several meetings of an international taskforce of scholars, high-level officials from the UN and government, and business advisers on energy, the environment, and development assistance. The Director of Oxford’s Global Economic Governance Programme, Dr Ngaire Woods, and the Director of Oxford’s Institute of Energy Studies, Christopher Allsopp convened the taskforce.

The wrong energy policy, misaligned with goals on climate change and global poverty risks, could create new enemies for Europe, new threats to energy supply, greater damage and worse poverty in the poorest parts of the world, the report states.

A better UK energy policy which forces some coherence among departments which are currently pursuing separate goals; a deeper, more robust EU energy framework which delivers security of energy supplies and addresses climate change; and development assistance policies which help poor countries to deal with climate change effects already being felt, and the new scramble for resources in Africa are the main recommendations made by the 24-page report.

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