There is much debate about global warming, not much real action. Leaked reports revealed this week - www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/aug/14/energy.renewableenergy - that the British government is backtracking on its own renewable energy supply targets, while at the same time holding the worst record in Europe for investment per capita. We believe that Gordon Brown must follow the advice of the Stern Report and invest government funding in a national infrastructure of renewable energy.

As architects, we should be designing buildings of low energy use that have a reduced impact on the world's resources. However, an architect's role is just part of a larger scenario, and needs a government led strategy of both incentives and restrictions to drive down energy use - in order to meet the targets they agreed to fulfil!

Project based investment into clean fuel technology is currently being promoted through “10 % renewables” as set out by planning requirements - but this is a small scaled strategy when a better use of global resources is to supply renewable energies through the national grid.

The government needs to:

• commit funding to assist large scale renewable energy projects and provide tax breaks for investment in clean fuel technologies

• make it easier for wind, solar and hydropower projects to achieve planning permission for use on sites across the country - don't allow local interest groups to so easily block the planning approval process.

• target investment for renewables in the infrastructures supplying new housing - if Britain is embarking on a programme of housebuilding this should be integrated with renewable energy programmes AND meet stringent environmental criteria, looking at housing in Germany and Scandinavia for model examples

• drive down national energy use through incentives to upgrade existing building stock - Decent Homes Standards are not rigorous enough