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The transition to a low carbon economy is imperative for the UK to boost its economic recovery according to Chris Huhne, who also insisted that it is essential to the survival of mankind as a species.

Speaking at the Liberal Democrat annual conference in Birmingham, the energy secretary said that cutting carbon has been a vital part of recovery from the deepest recession since 1929.

“In the 1930s, we did not create new jobs by bringing back the textiles, coal and iron jobs that were lost. We created new jobs in new industries. And the same is happening today.

“Every month, more than 300,000 people leave the unemployment register to find new jobs. Thousands of those jobs are now in the low carbon economy. It is our route to recovery.”

“There are now a million jobs in low carbon goods and services in Britain, and they are growing rapidly,” he said, insisting that “green business is good business”.

Mr Huhne also snapped at Tory activists, suggesting that they hinder the course “to be the greenest government ever.”

“I can hardly pick up a Tory paper these days without a whinge about energy and climate change policies,” he complained.

He acknowledged that in dire economic times people “understandably put other priorities higher up the scale” as climate change pales in comparison to matters such as making ends meet and staying in employment, but Mr Huhne stressed that “cutting carbon is not a luxury to be ditched when the going gets tough”.

The energy minister also emphasized on the government’s plan to launch Green Deal in October next year which is aimed at supporting home improvements to make approximately 26 million houses and businesses cheaper to run through better energy efficiency. The scheme that is expected to generate 250,000 jobs, allows people to access finance to pay for the upfront cost of work which will be paid back through savings on lower fuel bills.

“With the Green Deal, we are stopping the scandal where we use more energy to heat our homes than in Sweden, despite their icy winters,” he said, “saving money that can be spent at home on British jobs, not foreign gas.”

Simon McWhirter of the Great British Refurb Campaign said that the Green Deal initiative, if “done properly,” could result more money into the local economy as people spend less on fuel bills, all while reducing carbon emissions.

During his speech, Mr Huhne also recapped the progress of current projects such as onshore wind farms that are “now the cheapest form of renewable electricity”, and offshore wind farms that are “setting the standard for the world”.

Writing off complaints that the UK stands alone in working on building a low carbon economy, he drew attention to China being the home of six of the biggest renewable companies in the world, building 28 new nuclear power stations and 10,000 miles of high speed rail, at the same time as covering 40 per cent of the population with low carbon economy zones.

“The real risk is not doing too much. It is doing too little and getting left behind,” he argued.

Mr Huhne pledged that British energy consumers will “on average be better off in 2020” as a result of “getting off the oil and gas price hook and onto clean, green energy” and that through energy saving, people would be able to “offset the effects of higher prices and end up with lower bills”.