Britain is losing the battle to become a sustainable, environmentally friendly nation because of government failure to put its green rhetoric into practice, according to the Independent on Sunday.

The paper quoted a new report to be published this week as saying that in terms of greenhouse gases, Britain is the second largest emitter in Europe, with little chance of meeting its target of a 20 percent reduction in emissions by 2010.

The report says Britain remains well behind most European countries on supplying renewable energy, which accounts for less than 2 percent of overall energy consumption.

The report also predicts that proportion of energy produced from renewable sources in 2020 will be just 5 percent -- far short of the EU target of 20 percent.

And while recycling is on the increase, there is a long way to go to meet the 40 percent target by 2010, with Britain heavily reliant on land-fill, the report says.

Greg Clark, Conservative Party's spokesman on energy and climate change, said "This is a time when we need action rather than spin."

(Xinhua News Agency June 29, 2009)