The Conservative party’s climate change chief was in New Malden this week, to see what B&Q was doing to help homeowners become more green.

Greg Barker MP, Shadow Minister for Climate Change, went to see B&Q’s New Malden store on Tuesday, accompanied by TV property pundit Sarah Beeney.

The Conservatives’ home energy retrofit programme, the “Green Deal”, is part of a wider energy and climate initiative aimed at reducing carbon emissions coming from homes.

Ms Beeney said: “As a property investor and entrepreneur, I fully support home energy retro-fit schemes.

“They clearly address the urgent need to reduce emissions from the housing sector and make low-carbon renovation widely accessible to consumers”.

B&Q claims its New Malden “flagship eco store” would become the benchmark for meeting the company’s wider objective of becoming carbon neutral by 2012.

The DIY retailer also announced its plans to insulate up to one million lofts by the end of 2010, which it said was the single most important measure people could take to make their homes more environmentally friendly.

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