Speaking at the recent G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Keir Starmer pledged to “restore the UK’s role as a climate leader.”
With the warning signals flashing red, a planet battered by increasingly severe floods, storms and heatwaves, and the election of president Trump who has called the climate crisis “a big hoax”, the need for leadership on the greatest challenge of our time has never been more urgent.
Climate leadership must be both global and domestic. Coinciding with the UN climate talks in Baku (COP29), the prime minister launched the Global Clean Power Alliance, with Brazil’s President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, which aims to unite developed and developing countries to speed up the global green energy drive. This is a laudable initiative, but one which would be severely undermined if, as many fear, the UK government pledges financial support for a huge gas development in Mozambique, a carbon timebomb which has been linked to horrific human rights abuses.
At home, the early signs are encouraging. Five months in, and the new government has ended an effective moratorium on onshore wind farms, announced a ban on new coal licences, and pledged to cut UK emissions by 81% by 2035.
Strong targets really do matter. But meeting them is essential.
Sixteen years ago, parliament passed a ground-breaking piece of legislation – the Climate Change Act – making the UK the first country in the world to establish legally binding climate reduction targets.
The act was a turning point in the fight against climate breakdown. In the 15 years after the law was passed, Friends of the Earth analysis shows UK emissions dropped by 41% – compared with just 16% in the previous 15 years.
The legislation established the UK as a world leader in the race to build a greener future, with 33 countries following our lead and enshrining an emissions reduction target in law.
Unfortunately, enthusiasm for climate action faltered under the last Conservative government, severely denting the UK’s international reputation.
Consequently, UK climate targets are seriously off course, and the government’s action plans for meeting them have twice been declared unlawful by the High Court, following legal challenges by Friends of the Earth and others.
Following the latest successful court challenge, the government must deliver a new climate plan by May next year, giving Keir Starmer a golden opportunity to put the climate leadership he’s pledged into action.
His government must produce a bold and fair climate plan. It must ensure we meet all our climate targets and that everyone will benefit from cheap and reliable energy, warm homes, clean air, widespread public transport, thriving nature and well-paid green jobs.
The plan “has to show clearly how we reach net zero by 2050 and put us back on-track to meeting legally binding commitments”, says former Climate Change Committee chair Lord Deben. “If it fails to do so the negative implications for the international climate regime and for business confidence will be severe.”
Business leaders want action too, with the CBI warning “net zero cannot just be an ambition: it is a strategic necessity. Delivering a low-carbon economy is essential for long-term, sustainable growth.”
Delivering a climate plan that is fair, and seen to be fair, is absolutely critical. Over recent months, there are signs that the political consensus on climate ushered in by the Climate Change Act has started to unravel, with new Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch describing herself as a “net zero sceptic” and climate action caricatured in right wing press as being all pain, and little gain.
Public support for strong green policies and action to meet the UK’s climate targets is high with recent polling showing that nearly three-quarters of people back the shift to net zero. But if people don’t see how climate action benefits them, then support risks falling away.
The government’s plan must help everyone – not just those who can afford to install a heat pump or buy an electric vehicle. Everyone must benefit, with particular attention given to helping those who are struggling to make ends meet. The prime minister has said that he doesn’t want to tell people how to live their lives. But his government must lead and help by making it cheaper and easier for people to do the right thing.
Friends of the Earth’s bluepint for a greener, fairer future includes:
- Ensuring everyone can live in a warm home powered by cheap, clean energy. This should include kickstarting a national insulation programme to insulate 7.5 million homes, setting up a social energy tariff and providing heat pumps free to low-income households.
- Delivering affordable, reliable public transport, with more government funding.
- Creating new green jobs. Helping people find well-paid green jobs by providing investment and training, especially for sectors and places most at risk of being left behind. This should include investment of at least £4 billion a year in skills development, retraining and job creation.
The last Labour government piloted the Climate Change Act through parliament 16 years ago, putting the UK at the forefront of international efforts to tackle the climate crisis. Now the current Labour government must show real leadership again by delivering a bold and fair new climate plan.
Politics.co.uk is the UK’s leading digital-only political website. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for all the latest news and analysis.
The post Ambitious climate action plan essential if Keir Starmer is to deliver on green leadership pledge appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
