6. There’s a lot of talk of back-peddling on net zero / zero carbon commitments. What position do you (and your party) take? And how will you meet it?
Ian Middleton (Green Party):
“Most of the parties apart from the Green Party have compromised on their zero carbon polices. Some have even abandoned them altogether. Greens have never shied away from the fact that we need to take positive action on climate change and we need to take it now. This includes removing fossil fuels from our fuel mix as soon as possible and aiding nature recovery. The Greens are leading the way on these issues and have been hugely influential on other parties over the past few years. However it seems hat when politically expedient to do so most of them will water down their commitments. The Green Party will never do that and neither will I.”
Veronica Oakeshott (Labour Party):
“I am very proud of Labour’s manifesto. We see the green transition as something to embrace – and engine of growth – rather than something to try and delay or be afraid of.
Our proposals for the public owned clean energy company ‘Great British Energy’ will see us invest in clean energy infrastructure.
At the heart of our approach will be our Green Prosperity Plan where we will invest in the industries of the future with a £7.3bn National Wealth Fund.. Our plan will create 650,000 jobs across the country by 2030.
Labour will support the transition to electric vehicles by accelerating the roll out of charge points and by restoring the phase-out date of 2030 for new cars with internal combustion engines. Labour supports the introduction of a carbon border adjustment mechanism. This will protect British industries as we decarbonise, prevent countries from dumping lower-quality goods into British markets, and support the UK to meet our climate objectives.
Labour will ensure the institutional framework for policy making reflects our commitments to reach net zero and meet our carbon budgets. The Conservatives’ decision to prevent the Bank of England giving due consideration to climate change in its mandates will be reversed.
The manifesto has lots more clean energy commitments and I encourage you to read it – particular the section called “Make Britain a clean energy superpower”.”
Calum Miller (Liberal Democrats):
“We are committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2045 at the latest. We would also meet the UK’s commitment under the Paris Agreement to reduce emissions by at least 68% from 1990 levels by 2030. We would:
- Give Ofgem and other regulators a duty to help deliver net zero
- Require the National Infrastructure Commission to consider the environmental implications of all national infrastructure decisions
- Put tackling climate change at the heart of a new industrial strategy
- Coordinate action across the UK by creating a Joint Climate Council of the Nations Invest in education and training to equip people with the skills needed for the new low-carbon economy
Nature-based solutions are vital to a Liberal Democrat strategy to tackle climate change. We would:
- Plant at least 60 million trees a year, restore woodland habitats, and increase the use of sustainable wood in construction.
- Tackle “greenwashing” by introducing new Blue Carbon and Soils Carbon Standards
- Restore our peatlands as a carbon store and restore damaged peatlands to health.
- Protect and enhance the UK’s temperate rainforest and double woodland cover by 2050.
- Create and restore habitats like saltmarshes, mudflats and seagrass meadows to guard against coastal flooding and erosion whilst absorbing carbon emissions.
- Work with international partners to tackle deforestation around the world.
- Create a network of marine protected areas”
Kidlington Eco Group 