Recently, there have been announcements coming from the new Labour Government in the United Kingdom (UK) centred around climate change and climate change policy going forward. I wanted to give my thoughts on them and policy decisions over the last few years.
It has only been a few weeks since the Labour Party won the 2024 general election and became the governing party of the UK. Despite this, it is clear that former Labour Party Leader Ed Miliband has been planning for this moment and his role as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero for some time. On the 17th of September 2024, Ed Miliband delivered a keynote speech for the Energy UK Conference 2024 at One Great George Street, London.
In the speech, Mr Miliband speaks of the ‘energy trilemma’ of affordability, security and sustainability of energy in the UK, a point he made when he originally held the same role in 2008. However, this time he declared that reliance on fossil fuels once believed to offer ‘security and affordability to the country’ no longer does so. He states a ‘lesson for this government is that we must build a new era of greater energy independence on the foundation of clean energy.’
On the same day, speaking at Kew Gardens, Foreign Secretary David Lammy compared the climate crisis to terrorism, saying: ‘The threat may not feel as urgent as a terrorist or an imperialist autocrat. But it is more fundamental. It is systemic. It’s pervasive. And accelerating towards us at pace.’ Strong words as he expressed that climate change would be central to his role as foreign secretary.
It is encouraging to see the Labour Party speak so strongly about climate change. I am not a climate activist but I fundamentally believe that no one, including climate change deniers, should be against measures that keep the country cleaner on land, air and sea. I also believe we have an opportunity to make the UK a world leader in renewables and green industries, thereby making the future of the country more prosperous, sustainable and hopeful.
Historically, the UK has been a leader in taking measures against climate change. The Climate Change Act, adopted in 2008, set guidelines for climate change mitigation and adaptation across the country – the first Act of its kind in the world. And in 2019 the UK increased its commitment to become the first major economy to pass a net zero emissions law.
Offshore wind has been a major success story with five of the top ten largest operational offshore wind farms (measured on MW output) based in the UK. Of wind farms still under construction, the UK has three of the top five with more proposed. Labour has also just lifted what amounted to an almost total ban on building onshore wind farms introduced by the former Conservative Government. Although it seems pointless to build more offshore wind before supporting systems can handle capacity. Sky News reported that when there is too much wind offshore wind farms need to be turned off to avoid overloading and damaging the cables that carry the electricity – at a cost of hundreds of millions to taxpayers.
According to a report published in February 2024 by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the UK was the first major economy to halve its emissions between 1990 and 2022. This compares to a 23% reduction in France and no change in the USA between 1990 and 2021. Some might say that is due to the decrease in the UK’s manufacturing output over that period: ‘We don’t build anything in this country anymore’. On the contrary – the House of Commons Library Briefing Paper, number 01942, published on the 10th of January 2020, shows that although manufacturing as a share of the economy has declined since 1990, manufacturing output in 2018 is actually 7% higher in real terms compared with 1990. This is due to other sectors of the economy growing rather than a decrease in manufacturing. So the UK has managed a 50% drop in emissions during a similar period that manufacturing (a big cause of carbon emissions) has increased.
I had hoped during Boris Johnson’s time as prime minister that this positive trajectory would continue when he set out the Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution in November 2020. However, the pandemic (and a Conservative government riddled with controversy) saw an end to that. It appears to have been dead ever since.
The Labour Party didn’t seem to be much better when in opposition. One of Sir Keir Starmer’s major pledges was to invest £28 billion a year into the green economy. This was an exciting proposal, one that went beyond the norm of playing it safe in politics. It suggested a government serious about tackling climate change whilst driving the green economy. It was then announced they would cut the funding to only £15 billion a year. It now sits at only £4.7 billion a year in new money. Cuts blamed on the ‘Tories crashing the economy’ – hard to disagree honestly.
The speeches by Ed Miliband and David Lammy are definitely a welcome revival of climate change plans and policies that have sorely been lacking in recent years.
However, something I believe the Government should take into account is the number of products the UK imports from countries with reduced regulations and standards. Do we measure the UK’s net zero target by including the amount of offshore carbon created when manufacturing products abroad and the transport costs of getting them here?
Personally, I would like to see this government take meaningful steps toward the decarbonisation of the UK whilst building a strong domestic green sector and economy. If we become a net exporter of products, industry and skills surrounding the green economy, that would help positively drive our economy and help secure us from future upheaval. As they say, spending now on measures to combat climate change should dwarf the amount spent later.
It is surprising, given the many problems and crises the UK currently faces (the entire fabric of UK society feels like it has torn at the seams), that the Government can focus so much on climate change. Climate change doesn’t need to be mutually exclusive to the other issues we face. A cleaner, healthier and more outward UK would benefit everyone and possibly make the country a little more prosperous and respected across the world.
Sources
- Energy UK conference 2024: keynote speech by Ed Miliband
- The Kew Lecture: Foreign Secretary’s speech on the climate crisis
- UK becomes first country in world to commit to ending climate change by law
- UK becomes first major economy to pass net zero emissions law
- List of offshore wind farms – Wikipedia
- Britons paying hundreds of millions to turn off wind turbines…
- UK first major economy to halve emissions
- Research Briefing: Industries in the UK and the Full Report
- PM outlines his Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution for 250,000 jobs
- Keir Starmer defends Labour U-turn on £28bn green spending
Visually Interesting 
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