Commenting after Margaret Beckett officially acknowledged that the UK is struggling to meet Labour's election pledge to reduce pollution levels by one-fifth by 2010, the Shadow Environment Secretary said: "We have waited and waited for the Climate Change Review, but I am glad we didn't hold our breath. The review is a grim admission of failure on what was meant to be one of Tony Blair's top priorities. Worse still, it fails to chart a course which will get us back on track."

Launched in 2000, the Government's Climate Change Programme set the UK on a course to cut carbon emissions by one fifth in ten years, a commitment also made in three Labour manifestos and in the 2003 Energy White Paper. But an official review, just published, effectively drops this goal, cutting the UK target to around 15%, accompanied by a package of measures designed to increase carbon saving through the planning system and the work of local authorities.

Commenting, Mr Ainsworth said: "The Government's efforts to tackle climate change remain piecemeal, timid and half-hearted. This was an opportunity for Labour to show how they intend to lead the world, and they have missed it. Instead we get fudge and a photo-call. There is nothing new in this review, just a series of recycled announcements. Ironically there is nothing on recycling itself."

The Conservative spokesman declared: "This is an issue which, above all others, demands joined up Government. Instead, we see Government departments squabbling as emissions continue to rise. No wonder Mr Blair has decided to be on the other side of the world today."

Mr Ainsworth added: "Labour have an open invitation to join the cross-party consensus which we have forged with the LibDems and others. I hope that they now take it up. They have demonstrated that they are incapable of finding solutions on their own. The scale and urgency of the challenge demands that we must all work together to develop robust, clear, and radical policies which will stand the test of time."

Conservatives have called for an overhaul of the UK's Climate Change Programme, including a clear explanation of UK emissions modeling, explaining in full assumptions regarding energy efficiency and industry emissions; a clear, long-term framework, with fixed, enforceable and independently-audited annual reduction targets; a reformulation of renewables policy, particularly the Renewables Obligation which has driven investors to the cheapest existing source of renewable energy (onshore wind) at the expense of developing new and, eventually, more efficient industries (such as wave and tidal power); and a holistic approach, considering emissions from all sectors of the economy, including those from international aviation.

The Party has also urged ministers to make a firm commitment to use the Government estate and local authority controlled buildings to push best practice in renewable energy, microgeneration and energy efficiency, backed by a firm push to offset the upfront costs of energy efficiency, e.g. through stamp duty or council tax rebates.

* In his latest initiative to promote environmental protection, David Cameron is to undertake a three-day fact-finding visit with WWF to the arctic Research Station at Ny Alesund, northern Norway to see for himself the effects of climate change, and the scientific methods used to monitor it. During the trip, in about three weeks time, Mr Cameron will view a retreating glacier, one of the key indicators of global warming.