The government has moved to ease growing business fears that the green agenda could be shelved as part of Treasury cost-cutting measures.
Speaking at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham today, cabinet office minister Oliver Letwin argued that the transition to a low-carbon economy was "just as important" to the coalition as economic growth.
Speaking at a fring event Letwin rejected speculation that flagship green policies such as the feed-in tariff and Green Investment Bank were at risk from the upcoming cuts that will be announced in the the comprehensive spending review later this month.
"I predict the 20th of October will see the preservation of our carbon agenda and indeed the ability to follow it through," he said. "Both growth and the green bits of the agenda are equally important to us."
Letwin was equally trenchant in his support of the low carbon agenda in his keynote speech later in the day, reaffirming the governments commitment to the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), declaring it "a crucial part of cutting carbon" .
He added that roll out of the RHI next April would lead to a massive take-up of anaerobic digestion and other renewable heat technologies.
Letwin also criticised Labours failure in "weaning the country off hydrocarbons", arguing that in contrast to the previous government the coalition was working on a series of joined-up policies where smart grids and electric vehicles would enable more renewable and nuclear power to be fed into the countrys energy mix.
"All these measures fit together in a coherent whole," he said. "This is not a programme for tomorrow or the day after. This is a programme for the long term."
source: APEC-VC Korea
