What are Labour’s plans to create a greener Britain?

In this day and age, it is impossible to separate the environment from politics. With the increasing precedence of climate change on the global stage, leaders all around the world are forced to pour more and more resources into trying to slow it.

In response to this, Starmer has put much emphasis on sustainability and green energy in order to meet his target of a clean energy system by 2030. Labour has already set in motion their plans to aid Britain on its way to a net zero 2050 by repealing the ban on onshore wind farms in England and introducing a warm homes plan. This involves providing grants and low interest loans to upgrade the energy efficiency of 5 million homes, for example by installing things like solar panels and low carbon heating.

As part of their legislative agenda, the Labour government has also proposed a Great British Energy Bill which will create a publicly owned company based in Scotland focused on investing in green energy technologies. This includes driving the installation of 1000s of clean power projects like onshore wind, solar and hydro power to fulfil the aim of making Britain a ‘clean energy superpower’ by 2030.

The next 5 years will see the construction industry focusing evermore on green projects. These could range from installing solar panels, something that we at SER have years of experience in, to enormous clean energy production projects, of the sort that we will soon see at the previous site of Ratcliffe-On-Soar power station.

What Starmer is trying to do appears admirable, but on a global level it is not even half of a drop in the bucket towards stopping climate change. The UK is already quite advanced when it comes to eco-friendly technology and general greenhouse gas emissions, especially when compared to enormous manufacturing economies like China, which contributes around 35% of global carbon emissions. Therefore Britain, being such a small nation, can only really sit on the side-lines and hope that other countries start taking the climate crisis more seriously.

However a silver lining, at least on a personal level is the positive impact that Labour’s green policies are expected to have on the local environment, and the cost of energy. Labour is winding down domestic production of fossil fuels such as the North Sea gas and oil reserves which will massively reduce greenhouse gas emissions in this region. As well as the reduced UK carbon footprint, renewable energies will over time, reduce your energy bills, and technology like solar panels will allow you to produce your own electricity. You can sell any excess energy back to the national grid and if you own an electric car, can use this energy to charge it at home, massively reducing your consumption of fossil fuels.

Labour’s plan for a green Britain sounds positive, but only time will tell.