Ed Miliband to head new Department for Climate and Energy - Greenpeace responds

Reacting to the news that Ed Miliband has been appointed Secretary of State at a new Department for Energy and Climate, Greenpeace Executive Director John Sauven said:

"For the last ten years this government has dithered on climate change, offering us inspiring rhetoric but little in the way of real action. Bringing energy and climate together at last reflects the urgency of the threat we face from climate change."

"Hopefully Ed Miliband will champion efforts to boost renewable energy end energy efficiency, as part of a plan to create the green collar jobs that Britain has so far lost to our European neighbours. The first test of his credibility will be whether he stops the UK's first new coal fired power station in over thirty years at Kingsnorth in Kent.

"It's vital that the civil servants who blocked progress on renewables and energy efficiency for so long at the Department for Business are left where they are. Miliband's new team needs to bring fresh thinking and new ideas to the challenge of climate change. Central to this must be a new, low carbon economy based on green manufacturing and green jobs."