Sustainable future
UK prime minister contenders suggest fossil fuels are cutting high energy prices faster than cheap renewables. Britain’s slump shows that if we want real action on climate, we’ll have to fight for it in local and general elections, and in public opinion for decades to come.
Opinion: Strong commitments to climate policy are missing from the promises of the many candidates eager to succeed Boris Johnson as Tory leader and British Prime Minister. This raises concerns among politicians and business leaders that cross-party support for climate action could crumble.
Two candidates have called for a reassessment of the UK’s commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, arguing the targets are too expensive; and all the other candidates so far have been curiously silent on the subject. In addition, some suggest that more fossil fuels would be a faster way to lower high energy prices than more, cheaper renewables.
The most extreme is Kemi Badenoch, who says Britain’s efforts to pursue net-zero emissions amount to “unilateral economic disarmament”. Never mind that more than 90 percent of global GDP is now covered by a net zero target; and most of the UK’s main economic competitors are pursuing similar policies to accelerate the adoption of clean technologies and rapidly reduce emissions.
When Johnson campaigned for party leadership in 2019, all candidates were strong supporters of climate action. Five months after he took office, the Conservative Party’s 2019 general election manifesto pledged to have net-zero emissions by 2050 and “restore nature within a generation”.
The cross-party consensus was formed when the House of Commons passed the Climate Change Act in 2008. Only five of the 646 MPs voted against. The near unanimity has lasted for nearly 15 years under one Labor Prime Minister and three Tories. This has helped the UK take a leading role on climate in domestic policy and international negotiations.
But while that has helped the UK cut its emissions, successive governments still struggle to produce enough effective policies. It takes more political will and bureaucratic competence, not less.
There have been “shocking” policy loopholes and “little evidence” of implementation since the publication of the government’s Net Zero strategy last year, the UK’s Climate Change Committee said three weeks ago in its annual assessment of progress towards of the legally binding UK decarbonisation targets.
“Ministers come and ministers go; prime ministers come and prime ministers go. But many things remain the same. Especially important core themes, such as dealing with climate change and the degradation of nature.”
– Theresa May, former Prime Minister
Concerned about the downturn, the Conservative Environment Network has written to key candidates urging them to reaffirm their support for ambitious climate and wildlife policies.
“Supporting policies reduce the costs of clean technology, allowing companies to take advantage of growing global markets,” it said. “The benefits are significant. From job creation, increased exports and geographically dispersed growth to domestic investment and improved air quality through clean energy. Significant contributions to increasing opportunities in the UK.”
It also highlighted that renewable energy improved energy security and helped households reduce their exposure to high international oil and gas prices, contributing to the rising cost of living.
Most major corporate organizations have also made strong pleas to the Tory leadership candidates. These include the Confederation of British Industry, the Corporate Leaders Group and the UK Business Group Alliance for Net Zero.
The alliance said: “We have seen first-hand that investment in low-carbon infrastructure and technologies brings huge economic benefits. Supportive policies lower the costs of clean technology, allowing companies to take advantage of growing global markets. The benefits are significant. From job creation, increased exports and geographically dispersed growth to inward investment and improved air quality through clean energy. Significant contributions to leveling opportunities in the UK.”
Climate opportunities for poor parts of the country were also highlighted this week by two reports on decarbonising the steel industry. That would notably rejuvenate key sites in the North East of England, South West Wales, two ‘Red Wall’ regions in which Tories won seats from Labor in the 2019 election.
Theresa May, Johnson’s predecessor, was particularly vocal this week in her new role as chairman of the Aldersgate Group of major corporations committed to sustainability and climate strategies.
“Ministers come and ministers go; prime ministers come and prime ministers go,” she said. “But many issues remain the same. Especially important core issues, such as dealing with climate change and the degradation of nature. I think we have to remember that whatever happens, this is absolutely crucial for the future of our planet, for the future of people’s lives and their jobs and their prosperity. And we can’t take the foot off the accelerator at all.”
Right-wing opposition to climate policy is even more intense in the US. Encouraged by their recent Supreme Court victory over the Environmental Protection AgencyAttorneys generals of 24 Republican-controlled states wrote to the Securities and Exchange Commission last month, calling the agency’s climate-related disclosure rule “an unwise setback in environmental regulation.”
The Commission, which is trying to bring the US into line with international guidelines under the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures that New Zealand adopts, among others, has also been bombarded by angry and threatening submissions from the fossil fuel companies and electric generators. . Ultimately, they will likely appeal to the Supreme Court to impose the same highly restrictive ruling on the Commission as they did against the Environmental Protection Agency.
There are lessons in all this for us in New Zealand:
► Our parliament unanimously passed our overarching climate legislation in 2019, the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act, although ACT leader David Seymour missed the vote.
► Our Labor government is making some progress on its overall climate strategies, such as the emissions reduction plan. But actual policies, programs and carbon reductions are woefully lacking, even more so than in the UK.
► The National Party says it supports action on climate. But next time it forms a government, will it revise the 2019 law, as it promised to do, even when it voted for it? Such a break from consensus would undermine business and public confidence in the long-term policy stability essential to addressing the climate crisis. In addition, will it siding with farmers who demand that agriculture must escape or be easily swept up in climate policy?
► Our climate legislation is far from robust. For example, the Supreme Court recently ruled against: All aboard Aotearoaa group of NGOs, which argued that it was illegal for the Auckland Council and Auckland Transport to approve the 2021-2031 Regional Land Transport Plan because the plan would cause transport emissions to rise, not fall.
The plaintiffs argued that a range of central and local government policies and legislation require actual emissions reductions. For example, in 2019 the Council declared a climate emergency and subsequently Climate plan. It includes a target to halve emissions by 2030, which would require a reduction of approximately 64 percent in transportation emissions.
“To the extent that All Aboard Aotearoa relies on the argument that the Regional Land Transport Plan is inconsistent with the [climate] statement and commitments referred to, the brief point is that there is no legal requirement that the Plan conform to this,” said Justice Venning in his 60-page decision.
So if we want real, consistent and long-term action on climate, we will have to fight for it in local and general elections, in the marketplace, and in the courts and public opinion for decades to come.
But with few exceptions, New Zealand’s political and business leaders are far too reserved. If they don’t speak up, they lose the fight against climate – to the detriment of all of us.