David Cameron’s pledge that the Coalition would be the ‘greenest Government ever’ one year ago reflected a political recognition of the scale of the challenge that the UK faces in reducing our carbon emissions.  The fact of the matter is that we’re still the sick man of Europe when it comes to green energy – only Malta and Luxembourg have a worse record in renewables than the UK. It doesn’t take much to work out that it’s going to take time to sort things out – certainly more than a year.

On the plus side, the last 12 months have seen some recognition of the need to reform the way energy markets work in the UK. That’s important because at the moment renewable energy, and small-scale generation in particular, exists in spite of the current system, not because of it.  There needs to be continued and sustained political emphasis on how these reforms can encourage clean, green energy generated by households, businesses and communities around the country. As ministers have said, this is a once in a generation opportunity to get it right – it’s up to them to make sure they don’t blow it.

Looking at the negatives, the early review of Feed-in Tariffs for large-scale solar generators has been a very disappointing and unwelcome development. In the short time they’ve been around Feed-in Tariffs have proven themselves a powerful tool for driving investment in renewables.  The early review reflects a wider problem which is possibly the gravest threat to the pledge that the Prime Minister made last year – the need to embed sustainable development across Government, not just in DECC or DEFRA, and ensure that other important Departments like the Treasury are mindful of the need to balance their own aims with the Government’s other political commitments. That has been clearly demonstrated this week, with the controversy around the Committee on Climate Change’s recommended emissions reduction target.

Overall there have been some moves in the right direction. DECC Ministers have created the opportunity to make real and lasting changes in the way we generate, supply and use energy but whether or not they can deliver hangs in the balance.   A year on from the Greenest Government pledge, there is still a lot of work to be done. The Prime Minister can keep his promise. He just has to recognise that green Government is not just about one department’s specific policies but how that department’s work is affected by the overall direction of his Government.