Quotes from Barry Gardiner

GDP has been a con perpetrated upon the poor of the world: a measure of economic activity and not of actual wealth. What it masks is the way in which we transform their natural capital into our consumption through international rules that regard the ecosystem services upon which they rely as mere externalities.

As the cost of renewables plummets, the clean energy transition is increasingly driven by the business case.

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

Treaties negotiated with foreign powers create binding obligations on future generations that cannot be repealed in the way that domestic law can.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.

A Brexit that works for Britain needs to work for small businesses and must ensure that our future trade deals don't just work for big business.

The degradation of natural resources such as forests and freshwater has removed much of the resilience that societies formerly enjoyed.

Classical economics values things by seeing how much someone will pay for them. But this is where classical economics is wrong. What it fails to account for are all the 'externalities' - the services people regard as free goods: pollination services, flood protection, climate regulation, soil stabilization, carbon sequestration.

Climate change must be approached as an opportunity to transition our economy to a zero carbon future. Business understands this even when governments don't.

The costs of solar energy across the world have come down so fast that its growth as a cheap, clean energy source has been exponential.

Most people are surprised to find out that the myth of the crowded little island is just that - a myth.

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

We recognise the need for government to provide a clear and stable regulatory framework so as to release the investment power of business in order to deliver progressive public policy.

U.K. aid spending in India is that it ensures that we are able to work with our partners to develop their markets, business and enterprise, to boost labour standards and rights and, ultimately, to boost the incomes of the poorest which, in the long term, boosts demand for British goods and services.

We recognise the link between environmental failure and social injustice. When the energy sector is privatised and deregulated, it not only tends to pollute more, it also charges the poorest more per unit!

Understanding government can be a complex business. The stated reason for a policy and the real reason for it are rarely the same.

The Paris Agreement makes it impossible for any country or any sector to say climate change isn't their problem. It has created unprecedented momentum for all sectors in all countries to take action and be part of the solution.

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.

Making the most of global trade opportunities does not mean transitioning to a low-tax, deregulatory, 'Bargain Basement' economy. It means developing a robust Industrial Strategy intertwined with a strong trade agenda.

The pluralist society must be pragmatic. It does not say that 'God is dead.' It does not say that 'God is alive.' It says if we are to answer the question of how we can live together then we must remain agnostic on all such matters - at least so far as our civic association is structured.

Subsidies should never be a permanent feature of any market. They should be introduced only to address market failure and they should be withdrawn gradually as those distortions in the market are addressed.

The more we engage with others, the more we find people with whom we do not share the values and truths that we consider so fundamental. In virtual places, by contrast, we are able to select the precise individuals with whom we associate to ensure that we obtain the affirmation we require.