18 June 2024 – Last week was manifesto week and after the Conservatives, we will look at the Labour Manifesto 2024 to find out what it has to say about climate change and the environment.
On the face of it, Labour has tried to position themselves on the other side of the Conservatives when it comes to climate change and the environment.
But does their manifesto support this position and are they going to do what it takes to avert a climate crisis?
Clean Energy By 2030
One of the headline pledges Labour has made and is the second of the 5 missions in the manifesto is to make Britain a clean energy superpower.
The Labour Party acknowledges that the climate crisis is one of the biggest challenges that we face globally. To tackle it, they make it their mission to transition to clean energy by 2030.
To achieve this ambitious target, the manifesto outlines a raft of measures that will be part of a new Energy Independence Act:
- Double onshore wind capacity, triple solar power capacity and quadruple offshore wind capacity by 2030
- Investment in carbon capture and storage (CCS), hydrogen and marine energy and long-term energy storage
- Commitment to nuclear power by extending the lifetime of existing plants and creating new ones
- Ruling out issuing new gas, oil and coal licences and permanently ban fracking
While Labour won’t allow any new oil and gas fields in the North Sea, it won’t revoke the licences of any projects that have been approved during the last parliament, which is disappointing.
The manifesto also acknowledges that oil and gas production will be part of the UK’s energy mix for the coming decades. And it promises a phased and responsible transition to clean energy to safeguard our energy security.
These measures will be funded, according to the manifesto, by closing loopholes in the windfall tax on oil and gas companies and extending the Energy Profits Levy for the entirety of the next parliament.
Additionally, the windfall tax will be increased by 3% and the investment allowances will be removed.
The flagship policy around clean energy is the creation of Great British Energy (GBE), a publicly owned clean energy company. An investment of £8.3bn over the next parliament is promised for this policy.
GBE will work with various partners, including local authorities, to install thousands of clean energy projects across the country to drive the transition to renewable energy forward.
Warmer Homes Plan For Energy Efficency
The Labour Manifesto 2024 also includes a plan to help families to live in warmer homes by improving energy efficiency. With a promise to spend £6.6bn over the next parliament to improve the energy efficiency of Britain’s homes through insulation.
The money will also be used to help households to improve energy efficiency by installing solar panels, batteries, etc. Helping families not only to lower their bills but also to use less energy.
As part of the Warmer Homes Plan, the private rental sector will have to improve its stock to meet a minimum energy efficiency standard by 2030 to keep renters warm too.
Because the installation of energy efficiency measures can be costly, the Labour Party pledges to work with the private sector, including banks, to provide private financing for these improvements.
Labour also wants to make the UK the green capital of the world by providing an institutional framework for policies to achieve net zero. This will help companies to create strategies to become net zero.
While the manifesto includes many measures to achieve the net zero target to avert a climate catastrophe, it also aims at improving climate resilience.
Labour wants to work with various shareholders, including local communities, to ensure that the UK becomes better protected from extreme weather events caused by climate change.
The targets for the ban on petroleum cars and gas and oil boilers will be brought forward again, reversing the recent delay announced by Rishi Sunak.
Protect And Restore Nature
The Labour Manifesto also promises to act on protecting and restoring nature to meet the targets set out in the Environment Act. Labour sets out the following measures to achieve this:
- Providing responsible access to nature through the creation of nine new National River Walks across England and three new National Forests in England
- Planting millions of trees and creating new woodlands
- Restoring nature by expanding various habitats, including wetlands, peat bogs and forests
- Reducing waste by creating a circular economy
Labour also vows to tackle the UK’s water crisis by addressing illegal sewage dumping by water companies. The party promises to strengthen regulations and give regulators new powers, such as blocking payments of bonuses to executives.
Failing water companies will be put into special measures under Labour’s plan and persistent lawbreaking will attract criminal charges. Automatic and severe fines and independent monitoring will also be imposed.
The manifesto also promises to make environment land management schemes work for our environment as well as farmers. It also pledges to work towards ending the cull on badgers by eradicating Bonvine TB.
Finally, the manifesto document also contains a pledge to improve animal welfare with a ban on trail hunting, an end to puppy smuggling and phasing out animal testing.
Our Verdict On The Labour Manifesto 2024
While the manifesto of the Labour Party is rather thin on details, my overall impression is positive. The rhetoric in terms of climate change is promising.
I like that the Labour Party acknowledges that the climate crisis is one of the biggest challenges our world faces right now. The policies that they plan to enact to tackle this issue sound good, even if the detail is lacking.
Ruling out any new oil, gas and coal projects is, in my opinion, vital, and I’m pleased that Labour has done so. However, it’s disappointing that they aren’t prepared to revoke the ones that this parliament has issued.
Although I’m doubtful about CCS technology, Labour doesn’t seem to rely on it heavily to achieve net zero. Instead, renewable and clean energy seems to be on top of the agenda, which is good to see.
I’m especially excited about the pledge to create a circular economy, even if there is no detail whatsoever given. But the waste problem, especially plastic waste, we have needs addressing urgently.
I just hope that this plan of creating a circular economy isn’t heavily based on recycling, because we know that recycling alone isn’t the answer.
My only concern is the costs. The IFS is sceptical about where the money for all these measures will come from. Labour says it will grow the economy and announced some individual taxes that will rise.
But ruling out several ways of making money, including wealth taxes and cuts to spending, does beg the question of how we will pay for all this. I guess all we can do is wait and see, if they get voted in that is.
