One of the reasons I came into politics was because I thought I lacked the skills to be a social worker.
Environmental damage such as graffiti, fly-posting and general littering is a menace that is becoming all too prevalent, not just in inner cities but in many communities - urban and rural.
We've known for some time that we have to worry about the impacts of climate change on our children's and grandchildren's generations. But we now have to worry about ourselves as well.
You have to make your choice and live with your choice.
It is a stark and arresting fact that, since the middle of the 20th century, humankind has consumed more natural resources than in all previous human history
Many unsustainable behaviours are locked-in and made 'normal', not just by the way that we produce and consume, but by the absence of easy alternatives
Humankind has the science and technology to destroy itself or to provide prosperity for all. But while science offers us these opportunities, science will not make that choice for us. Only the moral power of a world acting as a community can
I don't join or leave things lightly.
My own passion for caravan holidays has been occasionally commented on by the media. It is certainly something that I am proud of.
The rewards that will flow from a successful shift to a low carbon economy are high. Neither governments nor business can afford to let these opportunities pass them by
Achieving climate security must be the core of foreign policy. All of us have to pick up the pace.
Today's dialogue has succeeded in reinforcing the need for international partnerships and cooperation in tackling the reality of climate change.
In the UK what we've found is that even businesses which prided themselves already on their efficient management find that a really beady-eyed scrutiny of their resource management, with an eye to environmental best-practice and long term sustainability, produce fresh efficiency and fresh savings that actually shock those in the company
Everyone must be clear that business as usual is not an option. Most of us live in buildings erected long before we were born and our successors will have to live with the environmental consequences of the buildings we construct today. It is vital that we minimise harmful impacts for those who come after us
