It’s been quite a week in terms of political positioning on climate change.

One of the most interesting statements came from UK Chancellor George Osborne who was standing in for his boss at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday – the weekly ritual of verbal violence in the House of Commons. He got three climate-related questions, probably stimulated by the climate march outside. His first answer, in relation to fracking, was no surprise – he’s pro-. But to two questions on climate commitments and carbon leakage, he gave a reasonably solid commitment to getting an international agreement at COP21 in Paris and for the UK to meet its climate targets, although with the slightly unnecessary caveat “in the cheapest way possible”.

This commitment is significant as Osborne has long been said to be a ‘luke-warmer’ ie believes the threat from climate change is much exaggerated and the impacts are manageable. And he made it twice, just in case anybody was in doubt.

However, the “cheapest way possible” was undermined by the announcement the next day that the Government would be ending subsidies to onshore wind a year early as its targets had been met. Given that onshore wind is the cheapest form of renewable energy in the UK context left much of the industry scratching their heads. New DECC minister Amber Rudd made a spirited case for solar PV instead, but this seems to be policy by aesthetics – for what its worth I prefer the graceful blades of a turbine than a field covered in black panels – but that’s just a personal point of view, not a sound basis for policy.

Another big problem I have is that the Government seems to be seeing those targets as a maximum commitment rather than a minimum. And the third and most important is the lack of consistency – we need clear leadership, not politicians blowing hot and cold (pun intended).

Then came the Pope’s encyclical on climate change. Now, as an atheist, I find a faith leader appealing to people to listen to the scientific rationale for action more than a little ironic, but the employee engager in me realises it is more important to appeal to hearts than minds. It will be an interesting intervention as many climate deniers are very religious. Christopher Booker is a creationist and Roy Spencer has signed a declaration that God wouldn’t allow catastrophic climate change (despite the fact he apparently allowed The Black Death).

Lastly, Green MP Caroline Lucas showed exactly how not to appeal to those who ‘don’t get it’, writing in the Independent:

It’s been a mixed week for those of us who care about protecting our environment and securing a decent future for generations to come.

Taking the attitude that we are morally superior to everybody else will get us nowhere.

On that note, have a great weekend!