The Green Party has called on the government to show it is committed to tackling climate change.

This week, plans to keep the Department for Energy and Climate Change's Whitehall offices cool by leaving windows open were scrapped on the grounds that it was too noisy outside.

It has therefore decided go back to using air conditioning at the building, which is rated G on the energy efficiency scale.

This has led to criticism from Jenny Jones, who represents the Green Party in the London Assembly, who said government departments "don't have that sense of urgency" about tackling climate change.

"Opening the window is the cheapest, most climate friendly way of cooling a building," she commented.

A spokesperson for the department responded by saying it is looking at adopting other energy-saving measures, such as using more efficient light bulbs.

This comes shortly after the CBI described the UK's progress on meeting its climate change targets as "patchy" so far.

However, the government did recently commit to having 40 per cent of our electricity generated from low carbon sources by 2020.