Sue delivers speech to the South East Renewal Energy Conference 2004

11.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 5th Nov 2004

In her speech to the South East Renewable Energy Conference today, Sue Doughty MP called on the region to take up the challenge and opportunities of renewable energy.

Her speech outlined a range of policies to stimulate the uptake of energy efficiency technology and investment in renewable energy generation.

She firmly rejected calls for nuclear power stations to be built.

Sue said:

"The challenge of moving to renewable energy can look like a steep hill to climb. But combined with energy efficiency, we could be generating 80% of our energy requirements from renewable technologies by 2050.

"The South East may be one of the most affluent parts of the country, but to sustain our wealth we must sustain our environment. We should be seeking to lead the way on renewable energy technology, so that our region benefits from the global trade in such technology that we be a key feature of the global economy in the 21st century.

"In the South East it is particularly important that the new housing that we have been asked to build meets the highest possible energy efficiency standards. Otherwise we will be leaving a polluting legacy in our region for decades to come."