Grayson on climate change

11.35.57pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 12th Apr 2010

Speaking at tonight's Hemel Friends of the Earth hustings, Dr Richard Grayson, Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Hemel Hempstead, set out his party's approach to climate change.

Dr Grayson said:

"Bold measures are needed - and fast. Personally speaking, the environment is one of my two main campaign issues, the other being Hemel hospital. After the failure of Copenhagen, a legally-binding global deal on reducing emissions is the priority. It should be based on the principles of contraction and convergence - reducing emissions overall, in a way that is fair for the developing world. Of the three main parties, only the Liberal Democrats are fully committed to those principles.

"In such a global deal, the EU has a major role to play. This is one of the issues where a common approach is truly essential. But the UK can also show a lead and when the Liberal Democrat manifesto is launched on Wednesday, people will be able to see full details of our ambitious programme to make the UK a world leader in tackling climate change."