If the new Prime Minister and his team fulfil their manifesto pledges, the environment will be a big winner from the General Election.
With the creation of Great British Energy tabled as a priority and an undertaking to achieve a decarbonised electricity grid by 2030 topping the Government’s green agenda, a raft of measures are set to drive this administration’s environmental policy following the landslide election victory.
And acknowledging that leading this country on its net zero journey is just one area demanding political scrutiny and change in the new PM’s bulging in-tray, Syntegra MD Alan King is urging the Government not to waver on its manifesto commitments and to implement its bold environmental ideas as a key part of its programme of reform.
“Sustainable green policies should underpin all areas of Government and if implemented as a matter of priority will help put the UK in the driving seat to tackle climate change.
“While the environment has not taken centre stage during the election campaign dominated by tax, the NHS and immigration, some bold changes were promised by Sir Keir in his Party’s manifesto and it is important that he now delivers on those pledges.
“It is widely recognised that we are facing a climate change disaster and it is vital our environmental plan of action is beefed up to bring about a step-change in policymaking related to energy and sustainable business practices.”
As Shadow Energy Security and Net-Zero Secretary Ed Miliband said: “People think the country is in a deep hole and they’d be right. There is a sense of realism, but people can expect that [Labour] will start to turn this round.
“We will start to turn the health service round, put more police on our streets, teachers in our classrooms and we will set up a new publicly owned energy company. We will hit the ground running with that. This is a seismic mandate for change and we will take this with the utmost seriousness that it deserves.”
Central to the undertakings is a commitment to invest an extra £6.6bnin home energy efficiency improvements on top of already planned funding.
“We are particularly keen to see this idea progressed early into his premiership,” said Alan.
“There are a huge number of measures this fund could support in this key area. It affects everyone and even small improvements can make a significant difference. We are keen to work with officials and the public to pick up and run with this idea and signpost homeowners to amendments they can adopt, many of them at surprisingly low cost.
“It was encouraging to see the commitment reiterated to maintain the country’s 2050 net zero target and decarbonise the electricity grid by 2030. These are important milestones in this environmental journey and I think such undertakings send the public a clear message about the importance of this policy area at a time when so many other issues are stealing the limelight and appearing front and centre of all news bulletins.
“The truth is climate change is having a huge impact on our lives already and its effects will only increase if the necessary measures are not put in place to tackle it as a matter of urgency.”
Prior to taking the reins of power, the Labour Party also pledged to make the UK the green finance capital of the world, invest £1.5bn a year in ports, hydrogen and industrial clusters, to create thousands of jobs focused on decarbonisation and scrap short funding cycle for key R&D institutions in favour of ten-year budgets that allow meaningful partnerships with industry.
“I am delighted there is a commitment to develop a long term strategy for transport as a key contributor to our huge emissions levels and the suggested move to a circular economy is, of course, very welcome. That is something which clearly needs widespread public buy-in but I am confident if the Governments gets its messaging right, that should happen quite quickly.
“Equally, the headline that bonuses will be scrapped for executives who pollute the waterways is definitely welcome news. We need to be rewarding positive environmental measures as good practice not allowing companies to act with impunity.
“We keep hearing this is a great opportunity for the Government to do things differently, to have a real impact on people’s lives. We are not a political organisation but we are ready to support any policies which promote environmental care and sustainability and the early indications are promising.
“So Sir Keir, we are watching – please don’t let us and our children down.”
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