The Green Party has warned the UK government that a net zero
strategy which offers a boost to fossil fuels would be a “grave
betrayal” of its citizens and future generations, amid reports
that its planned “green day” this week could include more support
for oil and gas [1].
As the government prepares to announce its revamped net zero
strategy on Thursday, the Greens have urged , Secretary of State for Energy
Security and Net Zero, to choose the policies that will bring the
most benefit to households across the UK as well as to the
environment.
Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said:
“The government this week has an opportunity to introduce
measures that will create a win-win for our environment and the
economy at large.
“Instead, we are hearing reports that what should be a boost for
households across the country, in the shape of cheaper, cleaner
energy and a reduction in emissions, will instead be a boost for
the climate-wrecking fossil fuel industry.
“If what we fear is correct, this will be a grave betrayal of
households up and down the country who want cheap, clean energy
that doesn’t cost the earth, as well as future generations who
will wonder why more wasn’t done to tackle the climate crisis
when we had the opportunity to do so.”
The Greens have called on the government to:
-
Introduce a carbon tax targeting the biggest polluters to
provide funding for a mass insulation programme and renewable
energy revolution to cut domestic energy bills and reduce
emissions
-
Invest £25 billion a year for ten years to carry out deep
retrofitting of ten million homes and provide insulation
improvements for every home that needs it.
-
Invest £12 billion a year for ten years on rolling out
renewable energy including:
-
-
Paving the way for 70% of the UK’s electricity to come
from wind power by lifting the de facto onshore ban and
introducing new support and incentives to accelerate wind
energy development
-
Introducing new support for solar geothermal, tidal,
hydro and other renewables to provide much of the rest
-
Make solar panels mandatory on the roofs of all suitable new
homes
-
A national programme to replace polluting boilers with
renewable heat from heat pumps
-
A commitment to provide no new investment in or permit the
development of new fossil fuels
Ramsay said:
“Any claim from the government that burning ever more fossil
fuels from the North Sea will help the UK meet its international
obligations to become net zero by 2050 [2] has no connection to
reality.
“Just last week, the latest IPCC report painted a grim picture of
the future of action to tackle the climate crisis isn’t taken
immediately. [2]
“The UK government, along with governments around the world, has
an increasingly small window of opportunity to secure a
sustainable future for all and limit global temperature rise.
“But with the recent announcements in the Spring Budget and
reports that its own ‘green day’ has been watered down, this
government continues to stick its head in the sand at everybody’s
cost.
“There are huge benefits to be made if the government puts the
right policies in place now. For example, the UK is seriously
behind other European countries when it comes to installing heat
pumps. However, new research has shown that we could reduce our
gas imports by half if we installed them at the same rate as
Finland [3]. If the government put the right long-term policy
measures in place now, then we could see this sort of reward very
soon.
“The government has a chance to achieve a win-win this week, but
it looks like they’re going for a lose-lose-lose which will be
bad for the economy, bad for our pockets and bad for the
climate.”
Notes
1 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/24/uk-government-launch-revamped-net-zero-strategy-oil-gas-capital-aberdeen
2 https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2023/03/20/green-party-response-to-ipcc-synthesis-report/
3 https://eciu.net/media/press-releases/2023/gas-imports-could-be-halved-in-ten-years-if-uk-matched-finland-on-heat-pumps
