Mick Bates has urged retail giants to compete to be the greenest in
the land in a groundbreaking debate in the National Assembly for
Wales.
Mick caused controversy by becoming the first AM to use the plasma
screens around the chamber to illustrate his arguments. He has
described the move as a “high tech revolution” for democracy in
Wales.
He said: “The point of today’s debate is to start a campaign to
encourage our supermarkets to compete to be the market leader in:
-
Increasing local food sales;
-
Promoting recycling and waste reduction;
-
Selling the most fair trade products
“Governments have consistently failed to regulate the supermarkets.
They are exceptionally popular and phenomenally successful. We must
harness their strengths and persuade them that there is a market
advantage in being the greenest in the field.
”It is not just a challenge to supermarkets, it is also a challenge
to all of us as consumers. I have written to all the supermarkets
today, inviting them to a green supermarket summit. I invite the
Minister, and all parties to come too. I have a simple three point
agenda. I hope together we can make Wales a greener, more prosperous
place where the incredible hulks can become green giants.”
Mick has received support from WWF, Oxfam and the Women’s Institute
for his campaign. Representatives of all three organisations shared
a press conference with Mick earlier today.
Despite criticism of Mick’s decision to use new technology to
illustrate his talk, he claimed the experiment was a success, and
urged other politicians to embrace the challenge of communicating in
a more engaging way.
He said: “I know some of my fuddy-duddy colleagues have criticised
it. But we do not seek to create some pale copy of
Westminster
in our Assembly. We have created a new kind of democracy, and if we
are serious about reaching out to people, we have to use the latest
technology where it is appropriate.”
Mick praised his own staff, and Assembly staff for their assistance
in putting together the presentation.
Notes:
Mick launched this campaign on
Wednesday June 21 with his short debate – Supermarkets: Green
Giants or incredible hulks? – in the Senedd Siambr.
Click here to download Mick's supermarket speech
Click here to download the slide presentation
The Green Supermarket Summit took
place on Friday 14th July 2006 in the National Assembly
for Wales.
The summit’s purpose
was to “Encourage supermarkets to compete with one another by
establishing who is selling the most local food, whose recycling
the most waste and who is selling the most fair trade products”
Delegates considered three central questions:
1. How do we encourage
the supermarkets to publish figures showing the amount of local
food sold the level of recycling undertaken and the percentage of
Fair Trade products sold?
2. Do we need to set
up a sustainable supermarkets forum to develop a voluntary
protocol starting with local food, recycling and fair trade?
3. Could we establish
an annual award for the retailer who sells the most local food,
recycles the most waste and sells the most fair trade products?
Agenda
10.45am introduction by Mike German AM
11.00am Presentation
from WWF Cymru – Reducing Food miles
11.15am Presentation
by Women’s Institute - Reducing Waste
11.30am Presentation
by Oxfam Cymru – Fair Trade
11.45am questions and discussion
12.30pm Lunch
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