Low-carbon economy is not a luxury

VIEWPOINT Elliot Morley

The low-carbon economy is an integral part of economic recovery, not a luxurious extra, says Elliot Morley, president of GLOBE International. In this week's Green Room, he sets out the reasons why the current financial crisis offers a unique opportunity for us to clean up our act.

Does the G8 have the political will to make a low-carbon economy a reality?

The world's focus is rightly on the turmoil in the financial markets and the global economic slowdown.

Some commentators, indeed some politicians, have used the deteriorating economic circumstances to argue that tackling climate change through the transition to a low-carbon economy is a luxury item; saying it is too expensive, could damage competitiveness, and should be a secondary political objective.

This is an understandable view but, in my opinion, it is short-sighted.

The global economy and the climate system are linked and the current slowdown represents a unique opportunity to use public sector investment to kick-start the economy and build the low-carbon infrastructure we need for our long-term prosperity.

The low-carbon economy is an integral part of economic recovery, not an optional bolt on.

'Unique opportunity'

Some economists are arguing that in order to kick-start the economy, governments will need to invest in major infrastructure projects to help stimulate demand in the economy, increase investment and create jobs.

We need that same political will to tackle the economic slowdown to tackle the twin challenges of climate and energy security

This presents us with a unique opportunity to create the low-carbon infrastructure we need for our future prosperity, such as more renewable energy generation, better public transport networks, smarter and more flexible electricity grids, "retrofitting" buildings to increase energy efficiency, and a network of pipelines to carry captured CO2 from fossil fuel power plants to storage sites under the North Sea.

This investment in infrastructure, together with policies to structure financial and industrial markets to deliver social and environmental goods, would help reignite the economy, reduce our dependence on imported fossil fuels and improve energy and climate security.

The political will has been found to stabilise the banking crisis. Now we need that same political will to tackle the economic slowdown to tackle the twin challenges of climate and energy security.

So, what are the building blocks required to generate the political support to drive economic investment into a low-carbon future?

Firstly, we need a global political agreement on how to tackle climate change beyond 2012. Most eyes are focusing on the UN meeting in Copenhagen in 2009 for a settlement.

However, if negotiations are to be successful, the political conditions must be created beforehand. The Italian G8 Summit next July is a key milestone.

Prime Minister Berlusconi has a chance to demonstrate real leadership by urging world leaders to agree the shape of a post-2012 deal and to do so against a backdrop of challenging economic conditions.

And it is crucial that the major emerging economies of Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa are given an equal seat at the negotiating table.

We can use the clout of the world's biggest markets to drive innovation around the world

Emerging economies will only be persuaded to take part in the transition to a low-carbon economy if we begin the discussion by recognising their new position in the world.

EU leadership is critical and it was heartening last week to see the EU Council reaffirm its determination to meet its self-imposed ambitious emissions reduction targets, and the UK's new Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change commit the UK to 80% emissions cuts from 1990 levels by 2050.

When I was in Beijing earlier this year, the members of the National People's Congress I met told me that the EU's targets had significant influence on Chinese decision-makers. This ambition must not be allowed to slip if we are to be successful in Copenhagen.

Secondly, we need a global carbon market. Having a significant price on carbon is the single most efficient way of driving CO2 out of the economy.

The EU's Emission Trading Scheme is the foundation for this. We now need to link this to markets emerging in the US, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

And, as recommended by GLOBE's working group on market mechanisms, in the context of the financial turmoil and the focus on market regulation, we must ensure that the global carbon market is regulated by an independent body with the authority and transparency to build confidence and ensure integrity.

Thirdly, the price on carbon must be backed with regulation and innovative financing to drive global investment into clean technology.

By setting ambitious efficiency standards on new appliances, buildings and technology, we can use the clout of the world's biggest markets to drive innovation around the world.

These actions do not just reduce emissions. They have huge economic benefits. By driving investment into clean technology and diversifying our energy resources we can help reduce the inflationary pressures and price volatility of oil, while creating jobs in all sectors from design and manufacturing, to engineering, IT and consultancy.

The benefits would not simply be felt in the developed world. Developing countries have a lot to gain too. As host nations for emissions reduction projects in the carbon market they can attract inward investment into clean energy, along with technology and skills transfer from developed countries.

Fresh thinking

As manufacturing centres for the clean technologies needed around the world, developing countries can create the jobs and wealth needed to develop their economies along a low-carbon path.

Blue sky thinking, not fossil fuel dependent polices, is needed

China is an obvious example. It is already the global manufacturing centre for wind turbines, a vast number of which are deployed in wind farms on its own soil. It is here we can begin to see some links between the environmental and financial crises.

It is the world's biggest carbon emitter, it holds vast reserves of wealth but, although so far it has been shielded from the financial turmoil, orders for its various manufacturing centres are set to fall as a result of the slowing demand from the industrialised nations.

This means that China too is likely to feel the downturn, but herein lies the opportunity.

China, and other countries with reserves of sovereign wealth, could invest in low-carbon as a way of reinvigorating the global economy which, in turn, will reinvigorate their own.

We have recently seen a smaller scale example with Abu Dhabi investing in a 20% share in the Thames Array wind farm. This is a sensible move from oil producing countries, diversifying their investments into the future global energy infrastructure and contributing to lower emissions.

It is an example other oil producers should follow and demonstrates that a post-2012 treaty is an opportunity for oil producers, not a threat as some currently perceive.

To help create the right political conditions for success in Copenhagen, GLOBE is launching an International Commission on Climate and Energy Security.

The Commission will comprise of senior legislators from G8 countries and the major emerging economies of Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa to identify the most difficult domestic obstacles, and to explore in-depth, as well as politically test, the specific outcomes required from the G8 summit.

The work of these legislators gives me great hope that G8 leaders will rise to the challenge in Italy next year and help prepare the ground for an ambitious and effective post-2012 agreement to tackle climate change.

Such an agreement is not just necessary to protect our climate but also to provide a framework within which we can kick-start our economies, create jobs and secure our future prosperity.

Elliot Morley is president of GLOBE International and was the UK prime minister's special representative to the G8's Gleneagles Dialogue

The Green Room is a series of opinion articles on environmental topics running weekly on the BBC News website

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Do you agree with Elliot Morley? Does the current financial crisis offer a unique opportunity to decarbonise the global economy? Is a low-carbon economy an essential way to create long-term wealth and jobs? Or is it a luxurious extra that the world cannot afford in the current financial climate?

As managing director of one of the leading renewable energy training providers in the UK I cannot agree more with the comments made by Elliot Morley. By pushing forward with 'green' infrastructure projects throughout the world we can really make a difference for our and future generations. In the UK alone we need to install an additional 7 million homes with solar thermal to help us meet our 2020 renewables target, by taking this opportunity we can not only stimulate the economy but secure our future at the same time.James Booth, Managing Director, PPL Training Ltd, York, UK

I think it's about we recognise that governments do not have the ability and industry the inclination to move towards either a 'green' or a 'low carbon' economy. It was once said that "where the people go, the leaders will follow" and perhaps governments can be instrumental in facilitating this process. The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) review have just costed the annual losses due to disappearing forests as between $2 -5 trillion. (That's how much it costs to replace the services that the forests provide for free). Our present politico-economic system does not account for these costs, skewing the economics of 'green technologies' so that they are always going to be economically unfeasable. Projects rejected 5 years ago would be very feasable if compared to the recent high barrel price. If it hit that high once, it's likely to do so again.

The government needs to commit to enabling strategies that will allow the public to become self-sufficient as their budgets allow. Their present efforts don't do this and worse, actually hinder the process. eg. Fuel cells belong in homes NOT cars. Hydrogen is cheap and plentiful and can be sourced renewably. It is only expensive when compressed to the densities required for vehicles. Having a super insulated house (4 times better than present govt. 'eco'housing) is of little use without correct solar orientation. Underground Coal Gasification could release the 200+ years of energy provision available in the UK without releasing the pollutants that make coal "dirty". Our existing gas fired generators can easily be adjusted to run on 'syngas' rather than natural gas and phasing them out to be replaced by hydrogen fuel cells running on the same fuel would halve those carbon emissions by eliminating the Carnot cycle. There is enough existing technology and infrastructure to support a changeover with no loss of "lifestyle", but it does require a different worldview to what presently drives 'western civilisation'peter , Surbiton UK

Usual self-serving claptrap from self-appointed experts anointed by BBC activists. Whatever happened to journalism?Andrew Dibb, JHB South Africa

Yes! But, I'd go further to say that any time is a good time for environmentally responsible investment. It's only a shame that it's taken 20 years or more for our common future to become an important issue. We need our governments to take action now, both with public sector investment and with financial incentives for individuals and businesses.Pete Howlett, Brighton, UK

I couldn't agree more.Matt Dixon, Leicester

An excellent article that captures the flavour of the moment.

I would add to this that not only is the timing right for government and regulatory intervention, but for businesses to pick up the baton. It has long been a supposed truism of the advertising industry that downturns are clear opportunities to invest in brand, not reduce investment, ahead of the competition.

The difference with the whole climate change / low carbon agenda is that serious efforts that businesses make now will significantly reduce costs, reduce risks and offer up significant new revenue growth opportunities.

What better time than now for the corporate world to focus on putting its house in order?Dean Stanton, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Thanks for the opportunity.

Carbon economy is an essential part in poverty alleviation,mainly in Africa.This is because much of Africa's natural green is being taken away by other developed nations.Also, because of insufficient know-how foreign tourists do come and do away with our green in the name of money.

If Africans are given the priority of education concerning global warming,then the mistakes of the first world will not be repeated.

I support thus the fact of carbon cut.As much of the expenditure for reducing carbon emission might be given to post and pre-war nations.

Thanks Franklin Bahfon , Buea/South West/Cameroon

Yes, I agree that we must create a low-carbon econony at once and that this will create jobs. The financial crisis arose because we were living beyond our means financially and the finance sector was building castles in the air. We are doing the same with the environment, living beyond the carrying capacity of the planet. We cannot afford to delay urgent action to remedy this, or the result will be far worse than any financial crisis.Dilys Cluer, Scarborough

Mr Morley basis his viewpoint on a false hypothesis. That CO2 emissions will cause dangerous levels of global warming.

The hockey stick graph has been destroyed yet the BBC still present it as a fact. See McKitrrik and Mckintyre.

For a very good analysis of temperatures refer to Robert Carter's presentation on uTube.

For evidence of past warming at the arctic refer to Climate4 you.

The deniers in this debate are the vested interests like Mr Morley.

Wrap up warm its getting colder. Stuart Harmon, London

I completely agree that this is an opportune moment in time. Green markets must be created by new environmentally sound, forward looking policy. The consumer demand will come from a reshaping of the industries necessary to comply with the new rules of engagement.Greg B, Burlington Canada

We need to look beyond mere replacement of a few dirty coal and oil burning power stations, hence a few thoughts. 1. Build numerous nuclear power stations, up to near peak level. 2. Require All new builds to come equipped with solar power roofs, both for water and photovoltaic. 3. set up UK based factories to produce the photovoltaic panels we need. 4. Build numerous wind generating 'farms'. 5. Lok for more uses for electricity, using Tax incentives to promote electric powered vehicles, heating, etc. Lets use technology to beat the problem, rather than allow ourselves to be pushed back into the dark ages.

Global Warming can be beaten rather than surrendered to.Barry P, Havant England

"The low-carbon economy is an integral part of economic recovery, not a luxurious extra, says Elliot Morley." I agree, at present the financial markets are built on expansion. However, the world is a finite resource that we as a species can not keep using without consequence. Now, is the ideal time to use the billions being poured into propping up the banking system as carrot and stick for more a sustainable economic model. Keith, Newcastle

Dismissing a low carbon economy as a luxurious extra that the world currently can't afford is tantamount to saying that human life is a luxury...if this isn't urgently addressed, people are going to die (yes people like us not just the Third world poor). And we can help the economy as well as the environment. DEEDS NOT WORDS ASAP, as we yelled at the Houses of Parliament last week! Liz Woods, Stansted, Essex, UK

I strongly agree with Elliot Morley. In Britain we face a growing balance-of-payments deficit on energy and, following the credit crunch, a likely contraction of overseas earnings from financial services. Investment in home-produced renewable energy will bring a big economic pay-off in helping us to live within our means.John Medway, London, UK

I totally agree with this article.

It is about time we stop "worring" about the financial crisis itself, and start foccusing on the FUNDAMENTAL issue that lies behind it: the sustainabiliy of our ways of doing business and get going with our private lives.

If the economy is not sustained by real and feasible assets (eg. our actual economy pattern), such as environmental resources, sooner or later it is doomed to collapse anyway. Felipe Barbirato, Brasil

The luxury that the world cannot afford is our present growth-orientated consumerist society. Classical economics cannot envisage a stable society which lives within its ecological means and recycles all materials, yet any thinking human being who looks at the photographs of Earth from space knows that we inhabit a rather fragile spaceship. The only real argument is how fast we move towards sustainability, and I'd say that, since this is a race we cannot afford to lose, the sooner we start and the faster we move the better.

Already, we are seeing huge suffering among the poorest of the world, yet it is the poorest who are least to blame for climate change. Are we really willing to create billions of martyrs to classical economic theory, just because it can't cope with a finite system? Change the definitions, boys! Human happiness can grow without a throwaway society - we know that. The Nobel Prize goes to the person who works out how to get from here to there!Roger Wilson, Liverpool

Elliot is exactly right. The Low Carbon Economy is necessary, inevitable, but most of all highly desirable!

Elliot was (I feel) ousted from the parliamentary nest, for having these sane views. All renewable power to his elbow. He should join the Green party. And that's a compliment in my book. Caroline Lucas is the world leader we need right now.Dave Hampton, Marlow, Bucks

Significant climate change seems like an inevitable event, while countries like the USA and China continue as they are. It is our countries responsibility to lead the way in alternative energy and green living so that when the inevitable change occurs we have the solution. This will give us both the economic and ethical high ground in the future. I completely agree with all of Elliot Morley's views, I just hope the Politian's listen.Michael Aldridge, Glasgow

Why is this not on the news front page section on this site next to the headline 'gloomy forecasts for UK economy' or does the BBC think that a low carbon economy is a luxury to be tooked away further in?

The low carbon economy is the way forward however the free market economy is incredibly powerfull and has a missing factor in its grand plan. Economists do not take into account that growth happens in a finite world. john, London

I totally agree tihw Ellion Morley. Yes, the current financila crisis offer a unique opportunity to decarbonise the global economy. Only low-barbon economy is an essential way to create long-term wealth and job. No, it is not a luxurious extra that world cannot afford in the current financial climate. It is chance to change our economic direction and make a good infrastrature for our next generation. Only now we can do it, otherwise, destoried livihood surrounding will cost more human being wealth to servive. It will more luxurious extra. We can not use money to buy destoried nature, but we can use money to pretect nature be destoried. Conpenhagen is our human being last chance to servive from global warming. Please whole world work together to tackle global warming. Righ help poor, whole world go low-carbon economy. Glaciers which our human being drink water original are melting away. If all the glaciers melt away, big water shortage will cause big conflict. Wars will hap!

pen. Wars will destory the wealth of our human being hard work built. Think about this, which one is cheaper? Prevent it in advance is cheaper or recover from huge destoryed nature by global warming by wars is cheaper? Please world leaders, citizens deeply think about these question, these situation. extinct animals will not back again, lossing glaciers will not back again, which can not be count by money. Save our nature, please go low-carbon economy!!!Wang Suya, Osaka Japan

A low-carbon economy is the ONLY way that we as a species are going to survive this century. Continuing on our current path of fossil fuel dependency is ultimately an unsustainable one which will lead to catastrophe. It is a nineteenth century idea whose time is long past. We need real, forward thinking leaders in government and business who can bring the world (or the lagging behind US) into the twenty-first century. The only luxurious extras are the gas guzzling SUV's and energy-inefficient McMansions that unfortunately still predominate the american landscape.Robert Horsman, Monument Beach usa

Because there is a temporary fall in oil prices there is a breathing space to allow the principles of a green eceonomy to be worked out and research to make them feasible to be finalised. Had oil prices continued to explode, economies would have collapsed before this could be done. Investment in the infrastructure to support this could take up some of the slack in the economy, so that as it recovers we start to have the DC power lines and high-speed trains to enable green power sources to hook up easily to the grid and people to switch from planes to trains.Phil Darby, Plymouth UK

Not being a finacial expert the thought did occur to me, that if something did come out of the present crisis it would be the oppurtunity to change tack, to forego our lemming like desire for plastic junk and invest in our home, this wonderful and unique Earthjane vraine, morienval france

No I do not think that the G8 leaders have the political will to make a low carbon economy work. They are mearly fiddling around the corners whilst the world burns!!

If they were serious they would not be fighting any wars, they would be finding other solutions for which I know there are plenty of!! And people like myself plus quite few others I know who have developed good feasible, economical and highly "green" ideas and in some cases, like mine, these ideas are carbon neutral to carbon negative would be well funded by now!! Alas we cannot find funding and I personally have been looking pretty hard for 4 years now (I have approached the ministries and various business organisations and other bodies)and all I ever hear is that we do not invest in agriculture (why, we all have too eat or do you all want to starve and agriculture is one of the worlds biggest polluters) or in that part of agriculture or you are too early stage to invest thus too high risk etc! etc! I ask "well where the hell am I going to get the

US must lead on downturn - Brown

Mr Brown visited a gas plant in Qatar as part of his trip

Gordon Brown has urged the next US president to show leadership over global financial reforms and reject a retreat into protectionism.

The prime minister said in Abu Dhabi that the US role in co-operation over financial reforms had been vital.

He said the next stage would need even more international cooperation with US leadership "crucial to its success".

He also backed a bigger role for Gulf states in running the International Monetary Fund, if they contribute more.

US voters will decide on Tuesday whether Republican John McCain or Democrat Barack Obama is to become the next president.

'Common agenda'

In a speech at an international oil conference, Mr Brown said the world would want to work closely with the US in the coming months.

There would be a "common agenda to bring growth and jobs back to our economies, to give greater stability to our financial system, to defeat protectionism in favour of free trade and of course to work for a more secure world - and in the Middle East, peace".

No country, no matter how big, can solve these challenges alone Gordon Brown

He said US co-operation on co-ordinated interest rate cuts and co-operation had been "vital".

But he said: "The next stage of globalisations will require even more international co-operation with American leadership crucial to its success."

He added: "No country, no matter how big, can solve these challenges alone."

IMF role

Mr Brown's trip to the Gulf is the seventh time he has ventured overseas in the last eight weeks.

He has held several meetings with other leaders aimed at lessening the impact of the global economic downturn.

On Monday he also said for the first time that the Gulf states should have a bigger role in the IMF, in return for contributing to a bail-out fund for collapsing economies.

"I very much accept the argument that countries which do contribute in this way should have a greater say in the overall governance of the IMF, and this is part of our ambitions for reform," he said.

His spokesman said IMF reserves needed to be boosted by "several hundreds of billions of dollars".

Earlier, the prime minister visited a natural gas plant in Qatar and an allied air base where some 450 RAF servicemen fly operations to Iraq.

On Sunday, he met suspected members of al-Qaeda during a visit to a "de-radicalisation centre" in Saudi Arabia.

Social mobility 'improving in UK'

Gordon Brown has made social mobility a focus of his premiership

Labour's policies may be improving social mobility, according to a study published by the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit.

It examined the link between parents' earnings and academic achievement for children born in 1970 and 1990.

The study said the results "suggest a statistically significant decline in the importance of family background on educational attainment".

But the Conservatives said any improvements were "fractional" at best.

'Tragic decline'

Gordon Brown has said increasing social mobility must be a "national crusade", but the prime minister has been accused of presiding over widening class and social divides.

Education charity the Sutton Trust has also claimed that the government's education policy fails to give poorer children the chance to improve their quality of life.

The truth is that Britain today is a country where poverty is getting worse Chris Grayling, Conservatives

Figures published on Monday by the Strategy Unit suggest that, between 1970 and 2000, social mobility neither improved nor deteriorated.

However, findings provided for it by Bristol University, the London School of Economics and the Institute of Fiscal Studies seem to show that there have been encouraging signs since then.

They appear to indicate that a child's academic achievement - measured by the number of GCSEs they pass - is becoming less dependent on their family's wealth.

'Making a difference'

Cabinet Office minister Liam Byrne told the BBC: "Despite the changes of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, social mobility didn't get moving a lot.

"Now there's a sense that since 2000 we have been making a difference."

Mr Byrne said increased nursery places, improving exam results, more people staying on at school after the age of 16 and better on-the-job training meant poorer people's life chances were improving.

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The absence of grants make it more difficult for working class kids to enter the professions

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For the Conservatives, shadow work and pensions secretary Chris Grayling said: "What a damning indictment of 11 years of Labour government - of vast amounts of money spent on regeneration programmes, on complex new systems of support for people on low incomes, on the New Deal - that the best they can claim is a fractional improvement.

"If indeed that fractional improvement even exists outside the Downing Street spin machine...

"The truth is that Britain today is a country where poverty is getting worse."

Mr Grayling is due to deliver a speech on social mobility later.

In June, Mr Brown said a white paper on on the subject would be published by the end of the year.

Interfaith unity urged on campus

The tour is led by shadow minister for community cohesion Baroness Warsi

A cross-party group of Jewish and Muslim MPs are beginning a tour of English universities to promote better interfaith relations between students.

The Coexistence Trust will address tensions created on campuses by the Middle East conflict.

It aims to highlight similarities in the histories of the two communities and encourage unity in the face of the prejudice that both have suffered.

The tour will visit London, Birmingham, Leeds, Oxford and Cambridge.

Led by Labour peer Lord Mitchell and shadow minister for community cohesion Baroness Warsi, the tour begins on Monday at the London School of Economics.

'Shared experiences'

The BBC's religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott said tensions between Jewish and Muslim students had emerged in the form of hostile message on internet sites and inflammatory posters on campuses.

Occasionally, they have escalated into the recruitment of Muslim students by extremist groups, he said.

Hostility towards Jewish students intensified during the Israel-Lebanon war in 2006 and led to calls for the police to take tougher action in cases of incitement against them.

Baroness Warsi said: "There are so many experiences that the British Jewish and British Muslim community share - from the geographical areas that they settled in upon arriving in the UK, to facing questions about their loyalty to Britain and the challenges of anti-Semitism and anti-Islamic sentiment.

Jewish and Muslim people work together in all walks of life, yet we seem to live apart Baroness Falkner, Lib Dem peer

"Britain can learn a huge amount from exploring these shared experiences, which will help politicians and policy makers in Parliament respond to the challenges that we face today."

Lib Dem peer Baroness Falkner, who is also taking part in the tour, said such an effort was "long overdue".

"Jewish and Muslim people work together in all walks of life, yet we seem to live apart," she said.

"This tour will finally give us an opportunity to get beneath the skin and to talk of all the things that bring us together in this country and where we might make common cause."

The Union of Jewish Students said it was "delighted" to support the initiative.

Chairman Adam Pike said: "The work of the Coexistence Trust sits well with UJS' belief in the importance of interfaith work and we look forward to the positive message from the peers.

"The response from local Jewish societies has been wholly positive and they are keen to share their experiences."

T5 was 'national embarrassment'

The report blamed BA and BAA for the chaos at Terminal 5

The chaotic opening of Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5 showed "serious failings" by British Airways and airport operator BAA, MPs have said.

The event in March was a source of "national embarrassment", the House of Commons Transport Committee said.

It said the problems, which included cancelled flights and thousands of bags going missing, "could and should" have been avoided with better planning.

The companies have apologised and said the situation had improved since then.

'Long queues'

Committee chairwoman Louise Ellman MP, said: "What should have been an occasion of national pride was in fact an occasion of national embarrassment."

READ THE REPORT The opening of Heathrow Terminal 5 [1.4MB] Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader Download the reader here

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EU envoys call for Congo action

Thousands of people forced to leave their homes are now in Goma

The UK and French foreign ministers have said urgent action is needed to ease the current crisis in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner warned that displaced people needed rapid humanitarian aid and urged the full implementation of peace deals.

Meanwhile, the UN has said it will send a convoy of food and medical supplies into rebel-held areas on Monday.

It will be the first aid in a week to reach the thousands of refugees there.

A spokeswoman for the charity, Save the Children, said some had been reduced to foraging for wild roots and berries.

Forces loyal to renegade Gen Laurent Nkunda have routed the Congolese military in the areas around Goma and now control vast swathes of the North Kivu region.

See a detailed map of the area

Mr Miliband and Mr Kouchner met Rwandan President Paul Kagame in his country's capital Kigali after visiting camps for displaced people around Goma and holding talks with Congolese President Joseph Kabila in his capital, Kinshasa.

The crisis, even if averted in the short term, will return without a new, vigorous and united political effort Bernard Kouchner and David MilibandFrench and British foreign ministers Is the world too slow to help Africa?

The Congolese government accuses Rwanda of backing the rebels, but both countries' presidents have agreed to attend a regional summit on the situation in the coming weeks.

In a joint statement, the two European foreign ministers said visiting the area had brought home how necessary it was to end the conflict and improve living conditions for those caught in the middle.

"The immediate needs are obvious. We saw them yesterday," they said.

"The humanitarian needs for food, shelter, water and healthcare must be met through universal provision and secure routes for delivery."

The pair also called for the strengthening of the 17,000-strong UN force in DR Congo, and said bilateral peace agreements already in place between regional powers must be honoured.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said the international community must "not allow Congo to become another Rwanda", where 800,000 people died in a 1994 genocide that is seen as the origin of the current conflict over the border.

Aid corridor 'vital'

Since fierce fighting began across the eastern DR Congo almost two months ago, some 250,000 people have been forced from their homes, and aid agencies have been forced to suspend operations.

As many as 50,000 displaced have reached Goma while many others have vanished. It is unclear how they are managing to survive.

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Refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo await food

The British and French foreign ministers said establishing an aid corridor to Goma was a top priority.

Visiting the Kibati camp for displaced people north of Goma on Saturday, the ministers and their bodyguards had to push through dense crowds of desperate people.

Correspondents say many were struggling to cook meagre emergency rations while others tried to put up flimsy plastic shelters in the rain.

We want to return to our village, but only if there is security Rgwasa Nyakaruhije

Others were trying to return to their homes, journeying on foot through territory now controlled by Gen Nkunda, whose rebels are camped out near the city.

"We received no food, so we are returning," Paul Bashoboye Bareke told the AFP news agency, surrounded by his wife and their eight children.

Others saw no point in going home.

"We want to return to our village, but only if there is security. I have not eaten for six days," one elderly woman, Rgwasa Nyakaruhije, told Reuters.

Concerns were heightened earlier in the week when the UN refugee agency said camps sheltering 50,000 refugees in Rutshuru, 90km (56 miles) north of Goma, had been forcibly emptied, looted and razed.

The head of mission for the UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Goma said the first aid delivery in a week would be dispatched to Rutshuru on Monday after the rebels and the army agreed to open a humanitarian corridor.

The convoy, which will be escorted by UN troops, will group staff and resources from UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs.

"Our priority is to restart the activities at many health centres in the area of Rutshuru and Kiwanja. We're taking health supplies, water, and sanitation," Gloria Fernandez told reporters.

Overstretched peacekeepers

A senior US official has backed the idea of sending EU troops to help the overstretched UN mission, Monuc.

Eyewitness accounts Crisis bites for refugees Q&A: DR Congo conflict

But Mr Miliband said the 850 UN soldiers in Goma should rather be reinforced by some of the 16,000 peacekeepers deployed in other parts of the country.

The head of Monuc, Alan Doss, said the UN force was "stretched" on four fronts.

Gen Nkunda says he is fighting to protect his Tutsi community from attack by Rwandan Hutu rebels, some of whom are accused of taking part in the genocide.

There have been accusations of collusion between DR Congo's army and Hutu guerrillas, while the Congolese government, for its part, has accused Rwanda of backing Gen Nkunda.

Rwanda denies this, but it has twice invaded its much larger neighbour in recent years.

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Westminster Diary

Welcome to the first of our regular round-ups of gossip from the corridors of power.

RED KIM REPENTS

When Gordon Brown sacked senior minister Kim Howells in a thorough clear out of the Foreign Office, he did offer a quantum of solace, in the shape of the chairmanship of the Intelligence and Security Committee - the group of senior parliamentarians who report to the PM on the workings of the security services. But as our Parliamentary correspondent Mark D'Arcy pointed out to him, his personal political history - as a former member of the Communist Party of Great Britain who was once nicknamed Kim Il Sung - made him a slightly surprising appointment. Did it not send a frisson of horror through the security establishment? "No. It's worrying isn't it?," says Mr Howells, adding: "I think I have wised up a lot actually. We all lived through these times..."

TABLOID STING

Phil Woolas has been making friends with The Sun this week - praising its readers' grasp of the immigration debate at a CBI conference. But how to describe the fast-talking immigration minister? After the event, The Sun's reporter could be heard toying with the tag "motormouth" to the evident discomfort of Mr Woolas. In the end the paper opted for "outspoken". A lucky escape perhaps...

AND YOUR MIDDLE NAME IS...?

Comedian Reginald D Hunter and Andrew F. Neil discuss their middle names.

CLASH OF THE TITANS

Remember those scary-sounding Titan prisons Jack Straw had planned? You wouldn't want to be locked up in one of those! Well, it turns out they have been renamed. From now on they will be known by the less worrying moniker "larger prisons". Home Office minister Lord Bach announced the change in the Lords this week, following an impassioned plea from the Bishop of Portsmouth. "In ancient Greek mythology, the Titans were a pretty unsavoury lot," the Bishop told peers. "One of them cut off the unmentionable parts of his father with a sickle, married one of his sisters, swallowed five of his children and finally, along with his siblings, was cast into the dreaded Lake Tartarus". Sounds like they should have been locked up.

HARD ACT TO FOLLOW

Ex-SAS bruiser David Davis recently got back from a fact-finding mission to Afghanistan, only to discover that another, even better-known hard man - Sky TV's Ross Kemp - had beaten him to it. But before we get carried away with the idea of the two men squaring up to each other in downtown Kandahar, it turns out the maverick Tory is a fan of Mr Kemp's programme. The edition of Ross Kemp on Gangs from Afghanistan was a good reflection of the situation there, Mr Davis told a Westminster lunch. Afghanistan is big enough for the both of them. Phew. Situation over.

JAMIE FACES A GRILLING

The celebrity chef who is trying to persuade the people of Rotherham to eat more salads will appear before the Commons Health Committee next week. Jamie Oliver tried to revive the art of home cooking in his recent Channel Four series Jamie's Ministry of Food, and next Wednesday he'll be quizzed on the difficulties of preaching his nutritional gospel. The Health Committee's chaired by the Labour MP Kevin Barron, whose patch includes part of Rotherham - and he told Radio Four's Today in Parliament some of his colleagues thought a celebrity appearance would be a gimmick which distracted from their current inquiry into Health Inequalities. Mr Barron disagreed. He argues that MPs have a lot to learn from Oliver - after all, when was the last time a select committee managed to secure an extra

Shadow Cabinet: Who's Who

Leader - David Cameron Chancellor - George Osborne Chairman - Caroline Spelman Justice - Nick Herbert Chief Whip - Patrick McLoughlin Commons - Theresa May Culture - Jeremy Hunt Defence- Liam Fox Development - Andrew Mitchell Energy and climate - Greg Clarke Education - Michael Gove Higher Education - David Willetts Environment - Peter Ainsworth Cohesion - Sayeeda Warsi Cabinet office - Francis Maude

Foreign Secretary - William Hague Health - Andrew Lansley Home Secretary - Dominic Grieve Security - Dame Nevillle-Jones Business - ALan Duncan Lords Leader - Lord Strathclyde Community - Eric Pickles N Ireland - Owen Paterson Transport - Theresa Villiers Treasury - Philip Hammond Work & Pensions - Chris Grayling Wales - Cheryl Gillan Scotland - David Mundell Policy - Oliver Letwin

Leader - David Cameron

David Cameron was virtually unknown outside Westminster when he was elected Tory leader in December 2005 at the age of 39.

The Old Etonian had dazzled that year's party conference with his youthful dynamism and charisma, reportedly telling journalists he was the "heir to Blair".

He has sought to plant the Conservative flag firmly in the centre ground of British politics, but his assault on traditional Tory touchstones, such as grammar schools, has brought him into conflict with the party's grassroots.

Before becoming leader, he was the Conservatives' campaign co-ordinator at the 2005 general election and shadow education secretary.

He was special adviser to Home Secretary Michael Howard and Chancellor Norman Lamont in the 1990s before spending seven years as a public relations executive with commercial broadcaster Carlton.

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Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer - George Osborne

One of David Cameron's closest friends and political allies - the pair have been dubbed the "Blair and Brown" of the Conservative Party - George Osborne has enjoyed a rapid rise through the ranks since becoming MP for Tatton in 2001.

Michael Howard promoted him from shadow chief secretary to the Treasury to shadow chancellor in May 2005, at the age of 34. It is a post he has kept under Mr Cameron.

Before entering Parliament, he was a special adviser in the agriculture department when the Tories were in government and later served as political secretary to William Hague.

He is also heir to the Osborne and Little wallpaper fortune.

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Party chairman - Caroline Spelman

Caroline Spelman became the second woman, after Theresa May, to be Conservative Party chairman in 2007, at the age of 49.

She entered Parliament in 1997 and was tipped for a shadow cabinet post when Michael Howard became Tory leader in 2003. But she was first appointed spokesman for the environment and shadow minister for women - both non-frontbench positions.

She served as shadow secretary of state for international development and more recently as shadow secretary for local and devolved government.

Before entering Parliament, she worked in agriculture, including a spell as deputy director of the International Confederation of European Beetgrowers, in Paris.

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Shadow Secretary of State for Justice - Nick Herbert

Seen as one of the Conservatives' fastest-rising stars, Nick Herbert is a longstanding supporter of shadow home secretary David Davis, backing his leadership bids in 2001 and 2005.

He became an MP in 2005, taking over as candidate in Arundel in South Downs after MP Howard Flight was sacked by Michael Howard for hinting the party's plans for spending cuts went further than it had admitted.

The party's second openly gay frontbencher, after Alan Duncan, Mr Herbert was instrumental in setting up the Countryside Alliance and is a former head of right leaning think tank Reform, where he advocated radical policies on schools and hospitals.

He was drafted into the shadow cabinet as Justice spokesman at the age of 44, after impressing David Cameron as Tory spokesman on police reform.

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Chief Whip - Patrick McLoughlin

The former miner has been MP for West Derbyshire since 1986.

When the Conservatives were in power, he was a minister at the departments of transport, employment, trade and industry, and in the whips' office. In opposition, he became deputy chief whip in 1998.

Mr McLoughlin has an unusual background for a Tory MP. His mother was a factory worker and he worked as a farm labourer before following his father and grandfather into the pits.

He spoke out against Arthur Scargill in the miners' strike, when he was a strike-breaker.

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Shadow Leader of the House of Commons - Theresa May

Theresa May was the first woman to become party chairman, under the leadership of Iain Duncan Smith.

She then took up the culture and family portfolios before being made shadow Commons leader by David Cameron.

She has been a keen advocate of positive action to recruit more women Tories to winnable seats and was a key architect of the "A list" of preferred candidates.

A passionate moderniser with an exotic taste in shoes, she is famous for telling Tory activists they were seen as members of the "nasty party".

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Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary - Jeremy Hunt

MP for South West Surrey since 2005, Jeremy Hunt became the Conservatives' culture spokesman at the age of 40, in recognition of his work on disability issues.

He was previously the party's spokesman on disabilities and welfare reform.

He replaced Hugo Swire, who was sacked as culture spokesman shortly after suggesting free museum entry might be scrapped.

Mr Hunt, a fluent Japanese speaker, founded a company called Hotcourses, offering guides to help students find the right course before entering Parliament.

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Shadow Secretary of State for Defence - Liam Fox

The former GP came third in the 2005 party leadership contest, presenting himself as a candidate of the right.

A popular figure with the party's grassroots, he was co-chairman during the 2005 general election but was moved to the shadow foreign secretary portfolio in May.

Under both William Hague and Iain Duncan Smith, he served as shadow health secretary.

And when the Conservatives were in government in the 1990s, Dr Fox was a whip and later a Foreign Office minister.

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Shadow International Development Secretary - Andrew Mitchell

Mr Mitchell ran David Davis' leadership campaign in 2005 and kept his shadow-cabinet job under the new regime.

A former social security minister and whip, Mr Mitchell has also served as shadow minister for police.

He first became an MP in 1987 and lost his Gelding seat a decade later, only to return as MP for Sutton Coldfield in 2001.

Before going to university, Mr Mitchell served in the Royal Tank Regiment and later worked for investment bank Lazard, where he remains a director.

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Shadow Energy and Climate Change - Greg Clarke

One of a new generation of more liberal-minded Conservative MPs, Mr Clark is close to David Cameron and, as the Tories' former director of policy, a key influence on his thinking on social issues.

Within a year of being elected MP for Tunbridge Wells in 2005, he was made the Conservative spokesman on charities. He raised eyebrows in the party when he said the politics of left-wing columnist Polly Toynbee were more relevant to the modern Conservative Party than those of Winston Churchill.

He was promoted to the newly created and more high profile role of shadow secretary for energy and climate change in response to Gordon Brown's creation of the department, headed by Ed Miliband.

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Shadow Education: Children, Schools and Families - Michael Gove

Seen as one of the brightest talents in the 2005 intake, the former Times journalist is a key member of David Cameron's inner circle and helps write many of his speeches.

As the Tories' housing spokesman, Mr Gove made a name for himself as an effective Commons performer in attacks on the government's home information packs.

He was drafted into the shadow cabinet, as children, schools and families spokesman, at the age of 39 when his leader split the education brief in two to reflect Gordon Brown's Whitehall changes.

Mr Gove headed the Policy Exchange think tank for three years before landing the safe seat of Surrey Heath.

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Shadow Education: Innovation, Universities and Skills - David Willetts

Known as one of the party's big thinkers, former shadow education secretary David "Two Brains" Willetts was shunted sideways in the July 2007 reshuffle after a bitter row over the party's policy on grammar schools.

A former Treasury civil servant and graduate of the Number 10 policy unit at the height of Margaret Thatcher's time in office, he subsequently became director of research for the Centre for Policy Studies.

After his eleciton to the Commons in 1992, he enjoyed a rapid rise through the ranks before being criticised for his role as a whip during the Neil Hamilton cash-for-questions investigation.

In opposition, he served as shadow education and employment secretary under William Hague before taking on the work and pensions job. He briefly dallied with a party leadership bid in 2005 before throwing his weight behind David Davis.

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Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary - Peter Ainsworth

Mr Ainsworth returned to the shadow cabinet in 2005 after a three-year absence. He stood down in 2002 for family reasons.

He became an MP in 1992 after a career as a banker and soon became parliamentary aide to ministers Jonathan Aitken and Virginia Bottomley.

Later, he was a government whip and in opposition became shadow culture secretary.

He has returned under David Cameron to the environment post he held under Iain Duncan Smith.

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Shadow Community Cohesion Minister - Sayeeda Warsi

Sayeeda Warsi became the first Muslim woman to sit on the front bench of a British political party in July 2007 at the age of 36.

Straight-talking and combative - she describes herself as a "northern, working-class-roots mum" - she gave up her job as a solicitor in 2004 to stand for Parliament in her home town of Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, losing out to Labour's Shahid Malik.

She was also a special adviser on community relations to then Tory leader Michael Howard before becoming the party's vice-chairman.

Ms Warsi - who is married with a daughter - says her admiration for Conservative principles is inspired by her father, who went from working in a mill to running a