Gordon Brown is secretly plotting to scupper a vital European climate change deal in a manner reminiscent of George Bush's attacks on the Kyoto Protocol.

According to today's Guardian, the prime minister is seeking an alliance with reactionary allies in Europe, including Poland's climate-sceptic President Kaczynski, in an effort to ditch the EU commitment to generate 20 per cent of our energy from renewable sources by 2020. The deal, signed earlier this year by Tony Blair, forms a vital pillar in European efforts to slash greenhouse gas emissions.

The Brown government privately accepts Britain can meet the ambitious EU renewable energy target but regards it as a threat to plans for new nuclear power stations and to the growth of a carbon trading market in London’s financial quarter.

Greenpeace executive director John Sauven said:

"Blair was far from perfect on climate change but he did at least sign Britain up to the momentous 20 per cent renewable energy target and try to position the UK as a world leader on global warming. Now, within months of taking office, Brown is trying to ditch the target and make Britain the climate spoiler. He knows we can meet this target but he still wants to scupper the deal in order to keep the nuclear industry happy."

Attempts to scupper the 20 per cent renewable energy target would meet strong resistance from Germany and other EU states. In the last six years Germany has increased its percentage of renewable electricity from 6 per cent to 12 per cent compared to the UK which has gone from 2.5 per cent to 4.5 per cent despite having the best wind resource in Europe. In the same period, the percentage of Germany's total energy use generated by renewables has gone up from 3.8 per cent to 8 per cent, while the UK has gone from 1 per cent to 2 per cent. As a consequence Germany has created a quarter of a million jobs in renewables - a number that is growing fast. Britain has only 25,000 jobs in renewables, a number that represents the amount of jobs created by Germany in the past year alone.

For more, contact the Greenpeace press office on 0207 865 8255.

On Monday the Sustainable Development Commission will release its report on tidal power across the UK.

In the wake of a government announcement last Tuesday, it is widely expected that the SDC will recommend further detailed appraisal of a Severn Barrage project. Greenpeace has long supported renewable energy, including getting power from the tides if the environmental impacts can be minimised.

John Sauven, Executive Director of Greenpeace UK, said:

"Tidal power can provide the UK with a tremendous amount of energy along with other marine renewables like wave power. And, importantly, it can do so without creating dangerous climate change emissions or nuclear waste. The Severn barrage could be a huge resource of carbon free energy, but the jury's still out on the best way to reap the tidal power of the river without having huge environmental impacts on wading birds.

"Offshore wind, as a cheaper option, should also be much higher up the government's priority list. The UK has about 40% of Europe's wind resource which could be harnessed to meet our demand for energy. For example the London Array, in the Thames estuary, will supply 750,000 homes in London at a cost of around £1.5 billion."

For more information contact the Greenpeace Press Office on 0207 865 8255