The Green Party will today [6 November] pledge to invest
£100 billion in climate action each year for a decade as it
announces the most ambitious Green New Deal of any political
party at its campaign launch [1] in Bristol.
The Greens will set out their ambitions to make Britain
fossil free by 2030 with the biggest public investment in decades
in order to protect the future of our planet [2].
, Co-Leader of the Green Party,
will urge voters to make 12 December the “climate election” and
ensure it goes down in history as the turning point in the fight
for climate justice.
Deputy leader will set out the Green’s
plan to get to carbon neutrality by 2030 by building 100,000
energy-efficient homes each year, revolutionising transport
infrastructure, rapidly rolling out renewable energy in Britain
and creating hundreds of thousands of low carbon
jobs.
The launch will take place in Bristol West, one of the
Green Party’s key target seats as it looks to build on the two
best ever election results in Green Party history [3].
Carla Denyer, the Green’s candidate for Bristol West, will
also be speaking at the launch. Denyer, currently a councillor on
Bristol City Councillor, proposed the first Climate Emergency
motion in the UK in November 2018 [4].
Berry is expected to say:
“Let’s be honest about the situation we’re in. We know
these are dark times. It’s easy to fear the future.
“The threat of Brexit hangs over our heads, the climate
emergency rages from the Amazon to the Arctic, and our fragile
democracy is under attack.
“But despite all this, Greens don’t fear the future. We
welcome the future. Because we know that we stand at the
threshold of what could be the most exciting and prosperous
period of British history.”
Womack is expected to say:
“This could be our last chance to elect a Parliament to
keep us below dangerous warming.
“The climate doesn’t care about promises. The environment
doesn’t care about pledges.
“What we need is action. And the Green Party has the single
most ambitious and comprehensive plan to go carbon neutral by
2030 while delivering social justice across Britain.”
Notes:
1.
Green Party general election campaign
launch
Wednesday 6 November 2019
10.30am: Speeches from and , co-leaders of the Green Party,
and Carla Denyer, Green Party parliamentary candidate for Bristol
West
10.45-11am: Photo
opportunities with Green Party leaders and parliamentary
candidate
11am-12noon: Interview
opportunities with Green Party leaders and parliamentary
candidate
Location: We The
Curious, One Millennium Square, Anchor Rd, BS1 5DB
2.
The Green Party pledge to invest £100 billion a year for
the next decade in to climate action as part of the most
ambitious Green New Deal of any political party. We propose to
borrow £91.2 billion a year, to pay for capital expenditure. A
further £9 billion a year of operational spending will be met
from tax changes, including increasing Corporation Tax to
24%
We feel that this borrowing to invest is justified, in the
face of the looming climate emergency, and prudent, given how
Green New Deal investment will kick start an economic and social
regeneration.
The cost of Government borrowing is at its lowest for
decades, creating an unparalleled opportunity for public
investment
The costs of servicing the extra borrowing will be met by
the surplus left over from our tax changes and savings revenue,
to be detailed in the forthcoming Manifesto.
We envision that Green New Deal public sector investment
will be a catalyst for private sector investment, as private
investors seek to share in the financial rewards of a transition
to a low carbon future. We have budgeted for the administration
of a fund to encourage and help direct this private sector
investment.
3.
The Green Party saw its best ever local election results on
2 May 2019 when it returned 362 councillors on 122 councils.
Meanwhile, the Greens saw its number of members of the European
parliament in England double, rising from three to seven.
4.
In November 2018, Carla
Denyer submitted a motion calling
on the Mayor of Bristol to declare a climate emergency. The
motion, which also called for the city's carbon neutrality target
forward by 20 years to 2030, passed in a Full Council meeting on
Tuesday 13 November.
