Eight of the UK's leading environmental groups have joined forces to urge political parties to adopt a joint approach on green issues.

They have produced a 10-point checklist of policies which they say are essential if the UK is to help protect the local and global environment.

The list includes a large investment in energy production and green transport.

It also calls for an end to airport expansion and a nationwide housing re-fit to boost energy efficiency.

Ed Miliband is asking people to vote for what they think the government’s top priority should be in tackling climate change.

Click here to choose one of the following:

1) the Prime Minister attending Copenhagen to help deliver a deal
2) doing more to provide home insulation in the UK
3) more government support to create green jobs

Comparing costs of different renewable technologies and working out potential savings in cash and carbon has just got a whole lot easier. Encraft has developed a range of calculators that help you work out all the figures, so that you can see what's best for your house much more easily. Anyone can use them free of charge by clicking on the calculator link on the Encraft home page. You just have to register to get access.

As a Devon resident it's great news to hear that our county council has won a prestigious award for its efforts to support renewable energy and boost a green rural regeneration.

Devon County Council won the second local authority prize in the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy earlier this month. In these days where jobs are rather thinner on the ground than we'd like them to be, its Renewable Energy for Devon (RE4D) scheme has created 55 jobs, and safeguarded another 16.