That was the call this week from the Green Party as it emerged that we are falling behind the rest of the UK on changing our lifestyles - despite enjoying some of the richest potential sources of renewable energy in Europe.

Friends of the Earth NI director John Woods said Northern Ireland is falling prey to "old fashioned thinking" by putting the lion's share of transport funding in the Programme for Government and Investment Strategy into roads rather than public transport. £3.1bn was allocated for building new roads, while just £720m goes to public transport.

"As the price of oil goes up, it will make it more and more expensive for people to travel, so I think in a few years' time our roads are going to look obsolete," he said.

Transport emissions in Northern Ireland have risen 44% since 1990, compared to a 10% in the rest of the UK, he said.

"We've been driving like there's no tomorrow - with this result," he said.

Overall greenhouse gas emissions have been cut by just 5.5% on 1990 levels, compared with Scotland's reduction of 16%. Homes still use oil and coal, with poor insulation standards compared to the rest of the UK.

What little reduction we've achieved in cutting emissions has been achieved by converting our power stations from oil to gas, Mr Woods said.

Meanwhile, our aspirations are equally weak. Scotland has a target of deriving 50% of electricity from renewable energy by 2020, while Northern Ireland's target is 12% by 2012.

"There was another target mentioned which is that we should be aiming for 40% by 2025. We are worried that Nigel Dodds has dropped that target because he's been keeping very quiet about it," Mr Woods said.

Meanwhile, Green Party Assembly member Brian Wilson has insisted that sustainability needs to be built into all government decisions, calling for a Climate Change Tsar to be appointed to oversee the push for a cleaner atmosphere.

"I certainly feel very frustrated in the sense that while Assembly members pay lip service to climate change and also to sustainability, when it comes to the crunch most of these policies don't take it on board," he said.

"There needs to be somebody there, an enforcer who highlights this type of thing. I think if they are intending to take it seriously they need to appoint somebody to oversee the decisions made by the various departments."

Mr Wilson expressed frustration over the loss of the Reconnect grants which run out at the end of March and the dropping of Peter Hain's rule that all new houses should be fitted with renewable energy technology.

WWF, the RSPB and Friends of the Earth are calling for Northern Ireland to set its own targets for cutting emissions.

Declan Allison of Friends of the Earth said: "Unfortunately the Programme for Government is taking us in the wrong direction. The Reconnect grants for installing renewables are to end and the requirement to include renewables in all new homes has been scrapped.

"The Executive has thrown away an opportunity to tackle fuel poverty, combat climate change and stimulate the market in domestic renewable energy technologies."

And former DUP environment spokesman Jim Wells warns that Northern Ireland may not be able to meet the challenging targets already set.

"What I can't see in the Programme for Government is how we are going to achieve this. It's such a challenging thing that it will require a complete root and branch change," he said.

"If there was the terrible heat and drought like the summer we had two years ago, the EU might force things on all of us," he said.