How green is the UK?

As delegates from around the world descend on Johannesburg for the most important environmental summit in 10 years, does the UK's own record on sustainable development come up to scratch? The Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, says that Britain's record is "something to be proud of" although he acknowledges there is "a lot more still to do".

But what do green campaigners think?

Speaking for Friends of the Earth Matt Philips says there has been some progress since 1992, particularly in the UK itself on clean air, clean water and the protection of the natural environment.

But he warns: "Perhaps more important is the UK's effect on the rest of the world.

"The UK is a massive consumer of goods and resources from abroad, especially in areas like agriculture and mining, and through the financial influence of the City. UK PLC is not having a positive influence on the rest of the world.

"One area in particular where the UK has a negative impact is illegal logging."

He says the UK is "one of the worst countries in Europe" in terms of its consumption of illegally logged wood.

Greenpeace offer a similar verdict, contrasting positive changes within the UK, with what they say is a poor record abroad.

Executive director Stephen Tindale says: "Progress has been made in protecting biodiversity within the UK, but nothing is being done to help biodiversity lost globally."

He has praise for the Climate Change Levy, a new energy tax on businesses introduced in April this year, as "the best thing" Tony Blair's government has done.

Tindale adds: "Getting the Kyoto Treaty on reducing worldwide emissions of greenhouse gases was down to Prescott and Meacher, but this achievement has been undermined by the dirty technology [coal fired power stations] we export to the developing world."

On the whole he says the government does have some commitment to green issues but he says: "Not enough effort is being put into it, we are only creeping forward."

Poor records on waste recycling and ministers rowing back on commitments to curb car use, are both cases in point.

"A huge effort is being put into making the UK the fourth largest economy on earth, but no such effort has been put into reducing its impact on the rest of the planet. It's one step forward, two steps back."

Jonathan Porritt, a veteran environmental campaigner and now the head of the government's Sustainable Development Commission, says the UK is by no means one of the world's worst offenders.

He told BBC News Online: "Compared with its peers it is doing as well as almost all of them. Perhaps only the Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands have a more progressive approach.

"It would be dishonest to say that the UK is lagging behind the rest of the world on these issues, but we do have some blind spots."

These include, he says, a failure to do much more than place "a green gloss" over existing polices, and a tendency to favour "incrementalism" over large scale change.

"Over the last 10 years the environment hasn't received the level of political attention it warrants, either from Labour or Conservative governments.

"It is seen by many policy wonks as being of marginal importance, and they are being caught out as a result. The were caught out particularly by the uproar over plans to leave Michael Meacher [the UK's environment minister] in the UK during the Johannesburg summit."

"It was completely ridiculous that the UK delegation would not include the one minister who knows about environmental issues."

As far as the government is concerned, he says: "The environment is much lower down the pecking order than free trade."

"My real concern is that this government is not prepared to take on big business. They have excessive enthusiasm for letting business regulate itself."

And what does this mean for the future? Porritt answers bleakly: "I'm not hugely optimistic at the moment."