Tackling the Climate Emergency: a comprehensive plan
It’s not often that an 85-page policy document gets a reaction like this:
“this is pretty flippin' good - pragmatically realistic.”
But that was what a senior leader of a major conservation charity told me after he’d read the Liberal Democrats’ new policy paper, “Tackling the Climate Emergency” - read the PDF by clicking here
He’s been at the forefront of action on conservation for years, and millions of us around the world are now backing the same priorities and waking up to the need for action on the environment and climate change. We may already have made changes to our lifestyles to do our bit to help, while waiting for international agreements to be brokered and, more importantly, honoured. But sometimes it takes an inspirational individual or a PR-savvy campaign - such as the dignified determination of Greta Thunberg and the noisy disruption of Extinction Rebellion - to really focus minds: we are already facing urgent threats to our environment and we risk leaving an irreparably damaged planet to our children.
Public concern about climate change is at record levels in the UK (YouGov) It is highest amongst the young (with 45% of 18-24 year olds saying it’s one of their most pressing concerns). But it is rising at similar rates among all ages. (Guardian) The LibDems have always made this a priority issue. Many of the strides on environmental policy in the UK, particularly in influencing legally binding emissions targets across the EU and paving the way for the UN’s Paris Agreement on Climate Change, were a result of Lib Dem pressure and Ed Davey’s leadership within the Coalition government. The Conservatives then scrapped nine of our flagship green policies when they won a majority in 2015 (Guardian) and have done little since then to address the crisis. (Indeed, it was revealed last week that many of Boris Johnson’s Cabinet have links to a think tank that has spent decades denying the science behind climate change: Guardian). The Labour government’s plans for a “green industrial revolution” are muddled, costly and undeliverable.
So that is why “Tackling the Climate Emergency” is such an important document. It recognises that it is not enough to just set targets to reduce greenhouse gases - however ambitious those targets may be; if you are going to achieve them, you require a comprehensive plan of action.
What this could mean for solar PV and wind power capacity in gigawatts (GW): actual (2018) and under Liberal Democrat proposals (2030, 2045) - page 54
And a comprehensive plan of action is exactly what this document sets out, with detailed commitments for the first 100 days of a Liberal Democrat government, the first year and the first Parliamentary term. In summary, a LibDem government will:
Set ambitious targets for reducing UK greenhouse gas emissions by 75 per cent by 2030 and to net zero by 2045 at the latest.
Carry out an emergency programme of action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from all UK buildings to near-zero by 2030, cutting fuel bills and ending fuel poverty.
Accelerate the development of renewable power, reaching at least 80 per cent of electricity generation by 2030 and more thereafter.
Encourage the rapid take-up of electric vehicles by ending the sale of new diesel and petrol cars and small vans by 2030.
Plant 60 million trees a year to remove carbon from the atmosphere, and improve health and the rural and urban environment.
Stop Brexit and work closely with the UK’s European and global partners to raise global climate ambition.
Decarbonise finance and investment, requiring companies and financial institutions to implement climate targets.
Integrate climate objectives into the heart of national and local government, establish Citizens’ Climate Assemblies and set up a Just Transition Commission to ensure no one loses out.
Major parts of the economy – including transport, industry and land use - will play their part in co-ordinated action to reach the net-zero emissions target and the objectives will be embedded in decision-making throughout national and local government, businesses, investors, communities and households, rewarding rapid progress towards net zero and encouraging behavioural change in patterns of living, working, travelling and eating. Our ambition is not limited to the UK: the plan sets out how we can use our foreign policy levers and our global influence to take the lead internationally, and underlines again why stopping Brexit is so important for all our futures.
I am proud to be a member of the party that already has such a strong track record on the environment and that has developed this ambitious, holistic and achievable vision, one that will transform the way we make policy and that will engage the public in delivering its goals. I am ever more determined to focus on the environment as one of my priorities as I campaign for election in Esher and Walton. Do take some time to read the document.
I’d love to know what you think.