Labour’s green retreat
◆ We’ll all pay a heavy price for Starmer’s backtracking on his climate change promises, argues Richard Dixon
Labour’s botched retreat from their commitment to a massive investment in reducing climate emissions looks doubly bad given its timing. First, in 2021 there was the pledge to invest £28 billion a year in measures to combat climate change. Then, they thought there might not be enough money so the full amount might only be available towards the end of a Labour government.
Only a couple of weeks ago, Sir Keir Starmer, pictured below, defended the promised investment while shadow ministers refused to confirm it was still party policy. Finally, he said there wasn’t enough money for £28bn a year, but they were still serious about climate change. The new figure is less than £15bn. He suggested most initiatives would still go ahead, but the programme to insulate people’s homes would be scaled back.
On very day of Labour’s announcement, scientists confirmed that global temperatures are averaging more than the 1.5C danger threshold. Shortly afterwards, proposals emerged in the European Union to toughen their target for 2040 to an impressive 90 per cent reduction in emissions.
With the Tories going backwards on their own climate commitments, including the recent rumour that they will abandon plans to incentivise manufacturers to supply heat pumps, Labour had been looking like the champions on climate change that the country so clearly needs. With a commanding lead in the polls, climate change high on the public agenda and spending on climate action likely to benefit the poor more than the rich, it is hard to see how Labour came to conclude that watering down their ambitions could possibly be a good idea.
Cutting back on fitting insulation and changing heating systems for zerocarbon ones is particularly puzzling. Making homes more efficient has multiple benefits. It is one of the quickest ways to reduce emissions because it slashes the use of natural gas. It improves the lives of many of the poorest people in society, especially those in rented accommodation, making their homes cheaper to keep warm and healthier to live in. It creates new energy industry jobs to replace those that will be going in the oil and gas sector.
A recent study found that energy bills could have been £70bn lower over the last decade if the UK Government had followed through on its original plans for net-zero measures. Yet Labour now plan to retrofit only five million of the 26 million homes in England and Wales, rather than the original commitment for 19 million homes. The UK is already off track for its 2030 climate target and this reduction in ambition could guarantee that the target is missed. Fortunately, the Scottish Government decides its own priorities on retrofitting homes but the reduced UK budget will have an impact here too.
The UK needs bold leadership to get back on track on climate targets, to help people with their energy bills, to reduce our dependence on the volatile prices of oil and gas, and to create new green energy jobs. Instead, Labour have retreated from the big promise they have been promoting to voters for more than two years, leaving their credibility on climate change seriously damaged.
£70bn
Energy bills cut if net-zero measures
introduced