Sorry I've been quiet for a few days. I blame Praguetory for introducing me to "Second Life" one of the online virtual world social site type things (actually from what I can see a "MOO" for those of you who may remember Xerox Parc in the early nineties but with fancy graphics).

Anyway, today I sat in on a seminar led by Chris Huhne here at Brookes on the subject of "Politicians and Conservation: can politics deliver on climate change?". And I heard nearly the same talk again at a fund raising dinner for our European campaigns in the evening.

It was inspiring, but I'm sure you wouldn't think I was for real if I didn't say that it only went a small way towards addressing some of the issues. More on that perhaps a bit later.

But one thing in particular struck me. Chris was talking about where the ramifications of climate change are felt in government, and how teamwork on a nearly unprecedented scale (except perhaps in period of outright war like the national governments in WWII) between departments is so essential.

If, he said, we want to ensure our built environment is to the highest possible environmental quality we look to the Department of Communities and Local Government who set things like building and planning regulations. If we want to make an impact on aviation and motor vehicles we have to look to the Department of Transport. Flood defences, the natural environment and environmental treaties to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. To negotiate those treaties, you need the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to administer aid to developing countries to get them past the population and industrial smog of underdevelopment you have the Department for International Development. You need the Department for Education and Skills to get the message across to the many people who still aren't truly aware of their part in all this from the youngest age. And the mother of them all, to pay for it, you've got to have the Treasury team onside.

He could have added the Department of Health to deal with the soaring weather related illnesses, the Home Office to deal with the migration issues and in the worst case scenarios to deal with law and order issues related to shortages and Work and Pensions to deal with issues like fuel poverty.

Chris's case was, of course, that the Lib Dems, of the major parties, are the only one who has all the relevant shadow teams onside with this agenda. But I couldn't help wondering throughout, that if what is at stake is the survival of between about a sixth and a third of the world's species and the biggest potential threat to humanity's wellbeing should we not have, as one of the "great offices of state", at least as important as the Home Office, the Treasury and the Foreign Office, A secretary of State for the Survival of Species with an overarching brief to bring all of these necessary players into line.

Instead, that is, of putting farm payments and flood defences in the same budget and calling it "environment".