MP, Labour’s Shadow Climate and Net Zero Secretary,
responding to the CCC’s Progress in reducing emissions report,
said:
“This report exposes the catastrophic negligence shown by this
government which has left Britain with higher bills, fewer good
jobs, our energy security weakened, and the climate emergency
unaddressed.
“This is a scathing report on a failing government. It spells out
how thirteen years of failed Conservative energy policy has left
Britain’s energy system deeply exposed and at the mercy of
dictators like Putin, which is why energy bills have rocketed for
families and businesses and inflation is higher than other
advanced economies.
“This is by some distance the most damning indictment of a
government since the climate change committee was established in
2008. Government ministers should hang their heads in shame when
they read this coruscating report.
“Only a Labour government can provide the leadership this country
needs and make Britain a clean energy superpower for lower bills,
good jobs, energy security, and the urgency the climate emergency
demands."
Ends
Notes
This report lays in full details the Conservatives terrible
failure on climate and energy security:
- Higher energy bills-
- In the last year, Britain has been rocked by the worst
cost of living crisis in a generation, driven particularly by
spiralling energy bills which have fuelled inflation and
thrown 3 million into fuel poverty in England and forced
businesses to close.
- This report spells out how, by failing to reform the
planning system to bring more homegrown power online, “there
is now a danger that the rapid deployment of infrastructure
required by the Net Zero transition is stymied or delayed by
restrictive planning rules.” (Page 15)
- Losing the global race for jobs:
- Right now, the UK is being left behind in the global race
for good, new jobs; we are investing five times less in green
industries than Germany, and roughly half of France and the
USA.
- For example, this report sets out how “we have been slow
to react to the US Inflation Reduction Act and the EU’s
proposed Green Deal Industrial Plan, which are now a strong
pull for green investment away from the UK.” (Page 13). An
example of this is the commentary that the government has “no
policy to deliver” on decarbonising the steel industry. (page
14)
- Energy insecurity:
- Despite only importing four per cent of our oil and gas
from Russia, Putin’s ability to manipulate the price we pay
on international gas markets -including gas produced in the
North Sea - has plunged us into the worst cost of living
crisis in living memory.
- For example, the report sets out how “Given short
lead-times, rapid deployment of onshore wind and solar could
have helped to mitigate dependence on imported gas during the
fossil fuel crisis.” (page 20)
- Spiralling climate cost and inaction:
- The climate crisis - already the biggest long-term threat
we face - is accelerating in Britain and around the world
and, while the action we need to take and the threat we face
has become clearer, global emissions continue to rise and we
remain significantly off track to limit global warming to
1.5C. The Office for Budget Responsibility warns that
delaying climate action by a decade will double its cost.
- As the Executive Summary of the report says, “The UK has
lost its clear global leadership position on climate action”.
(Page 13).
