Farmers Guardian - Rooker issues stark warning

FORMER Defra [Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (UK)] Minister Jeff Rooker has suggested his successors will have less time to engage with farmers and farming issues than he did as a result of an increased workload.

Speaking at a Gloucestershire NFU meeting last week, the former Minister began by insisting he had ‘no beans to spill’.

But he went on to observe that ‘Defra’s problem’ during his two-and-a-half years there was that it had ‘concentrated too much’ on climate change, with almost all staff appointments linked to that agenda.

Not so much a quest for a deal but a quest to blame someone else for the lack of a deal

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday a European Union climate pact up for discussion in Brussels next week would fail without a "sensible" global deal in 2009 that involves the United States.

"Europe accounts for 15 percent of the world's CO2 emissions," Merkel said in a speech to parliament.

"If the United States do not participate, if we don't agree next year on a sensible international deal, then our efforts in Europe to lead the way will of course fail."