"First, we want more national governments to broaden their understanding of wealth. Gross domestic product is vital in measuring economic performance, but it doesn't capture the full picture. It says nothing about natural capital - the forests, farmland, rivers, and coastline on which future prosperity depends. The UK is working on a kind of "GDP+" so that, by 2020, our national accounts reflect these assets.
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"Second, Rio must set out a plan for the future. The best way to drive progress is through clear ambitions with hard deadlines…We're proposing a package of sustainable development goals to rally the international community around ensuring that all people, everywhere, have access to food, clean water and green energy. Agreeing these will be a huge undertaking - but this week we need to get them off the ground.
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"And finally, we need to bring business in. Using resources responsibly is in business's own interests too…The UK will press for governments to come together, working with those companies already blazing a trail, to give "sustainability reporting" a global push. By agreeing common standards and practices we can get many more firms on board. And in the UK, from the start of next financial year, all firms listed on the London Stock Exchange will have to report the levels of greenhouse gases they emit."
"I've always been very clear on this: love is the same, straight or gay, so the civil institution should be the same too.
"All couples should be able to make that commitment to one another, regardless of who they love.
"I fought for equal marriage before I was in Government, and I'm even more committed to making it happen now - as a Liberal Democrat and as Deputy Prime Minister.
"We brought forward our proposals; they have provoked a heated debate.
"But these are proposals about when and how to open up civil marriage to gay and lesbian couples. It's not a matter of 'if' anymore.
"And to those who are worried about some of the opposition to this move or the tone of the debate, let me just say, whether you are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual or straight: your freedom to love who you choose is a fundamental right in a liberal society - and you will always have our support. That's why I'm Out4Marriage."
"This is a welcome boost to the economy, which is only possible because the Coalition Government has taken tough action to put the nation's finances on a stable footing.
"Liberal Democrats have been calling on banks to lend more to SMEs in order to boost the economy. Thanks to Business Secretary Vince Cable significant steps have already been taken to get the banks lending again.
"These are unprecedented times with continued turmoil in the eurozone. This announcement will help our economy weather the storm on our doorstep by building on the trust we've gained from the markets with our determination to deal with our debts.
"I look forward to seeing the details of the two schemes, which I hope will help hard-pressed businesses and families access the credit they need."
The Liberal Democrats have long campaigned for these changes, first calling for the setting up of Regional Advisory Councils 10 years ago. The reforms agreed are a decisive step further by giving these Councils management and executive powers.
Commenting, Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Policy Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Andrew George said:
The proposed Directive intends to step up efforts to use energy more efficiently at all stages of the energy chain; from the source all the way to final consumption. This includes a target of a 20 percent cut of energy use through savings against predicted levels by the end of the decade.
Commenting, Leader of the Liberal Democrat MEPs and Liberal Democrat Energy Spokesperson in the European Parliament, Fiona Hall said:
This is my first speech at the conference of a Trade Union, and it is an honour to have the opportunity to address the GMB.
The GMB play a crucial role in the TUC and the wider trade union movement in our country - As shown by Paul Kenny's presidency of the TUC this year.
I address the conference today as a Liberal Democrat working in a Coalition Government and as a Treasury Minister at a time of very significant economic challenges for the UK.
I welcome the interest in dialogue that this invitation represents, and I look forward to a robust Q&A later.
I've learned from Vince Cable last year - by not briefing anything to the press in advance!
While the Liberal Democrats and the Trades Unions do not always see eye to eye, I want to emphasise three things in particular today:
Two-year-olds are to benefit from an extended pre-school education offer earlier than originally billed. Last week the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg hailed the move as a transformation in free early education when he announced a shake-up of the way it is delivered.
The changes include a huge boost for hundreds of two-year-olds who will get access to free childcare. Two-year-olds from the most disadvantaged backgrounds were due to start receiving free pre-school education from 2013, but Nick wants to see the programme rolling out early from this September.
Liberal Democrats believe the right way to give children the best start in life is to give them the help they need in the crucial early years to stop them falling behind. That's why Liberal Democrats in the Coalition government have maintained free early years education for all three- and four-year-olds, and are extending this to the most disadvantaged two-year-olds.
Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg hailed a transformation in free early education as he announced a shake-up of the way it is delivered. The changes include a huge boost for hundreds of two-year-olds who will get access to free childcare earlier than originally billed.
Liberal Democrats believe the best way to give children the best start in life is to give them the help they need in the crucial early years to stop them falling behind.
Commenting, Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party Committee on Transport, Julian Huppert said:
"This report shows the ship's slow deterioration is continuing with the lethal cargo still on board. This must surely put an end to the bonkers idea of building an airport in the Thames Estuary.
"Just last month the Royal Navy had to destroy a wartime mine found in the Thames Estuary because of the 'significant risk to public safety'.
"If this cargo ship was disrupted by construction the explosion would be 2000 times larger, it would blow out every window in Sheerness, and create a 16ft wave just outside the capital.
"The last time we tried to move a similar wreck it exploded. Without a credible plan to deal with this mess there's no way Boris' plans will ever get off the ground."
This week Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg strongly re-stated his personal commitment to increasing social mobility when he introduced the first update on the Government's social mobility strategy. He was addressing the Sutton Trust and opened by reminding his audience of statistics that reveal the stark gap in life chances between the worst and better-off in society.
"One in five children are on free school meals. Only one in a hundred Oxbridge entrants are," he said. "Only 7 per cent of children attend independent schools, but public schools provide 70 per cent of high court judges and 54 per cent of FTSE 100 CEOs. One in five children from poorer homes achieve five good GCSEs, compared to three out of four from affluent homes."
The Government was now publishing a set of 17 'trackers' to measure how well the Government is doing in making society fairer. The trackers will monitor policies to tackle social mobility and, unlike previous measures, will be published annually avoiding a long time lag. It will be the first time that any government in the world had published such data.
"And let me get something out of the way right now", said Nick.
"I know some people say that my birth, my education, and my opportunities mean I have no right to speak up. I couldn't disagree more. If people like me who have benefited from the system don't speak up, we will never get anywhere."
He referred to 'the three myths of social mobility'.
"Reducing inequality is a good and laudable aim. But unfortunately it's not the straightforward route to social mobility. I wish it was. Life would be much simpler. Our goal would be clear: redistribution of income would do the job.
"Myth 2 is that social mobility is a project for economic good times.
"Partly this myth comes from those who think our spending plans are dismantling the state's capacity to help. That we are turning the clock back to the 1930s.
"This is simply not true. At the end of this Parliament, public spending will still account for 42 per cent of GDP."
"The link between economic growth and mobility is not straightforward. A growing economy will often do a good job of increasing absolute social mobility - simply by making everyone better off. But growth does not necessarily improve relative social mobility.
Myth 3, he believed, was that the promotion of social mobility meant lowering standards, or somehow 'dumbing down', to 'socially engineer' a particular outcome.
"Nonsense," he said, "And usually peddled by those who benefit from the status quo - and therefore want to keep things the way they are.
"Social engineering is what's happening now: the unfairness in our society, and the system that perpetuates it."
The Government needed to prove the depth of its commitment to a fairer society. It was not just throwing money at the problem and hoping it would go away.
"That's why", Nick concluded, "we are putting in place the mechanisms to hold our own government and future governments to account: a powerful set of indicators to show our progress; a Ministerial Group on Social Mobility to co-ordinate our work across Whitehall; and the establishment of a statutory Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, to report independently on our progress."
