On 18th November the UK govt published its 10 point plan for a green industrial revolution,
Here it discussed investing £12 Billion of govt money in offshore wind, Hydrogen, Nuclear power, Carbon capture and Storage, Jet zero and green ships.
On the 9th December the UK Climate Change Committee the independant statutory body advising the UK goverment published its Sixth Carbon Budget
The budget was for 2033 - 2037 but it also detailed the long term goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and the UN NDC reduction of 68% emissions by 2030.
It drew on the work of the Climate Assembly.
It is a recommendation to govt to take up, it describes the plan as feasable but challenging.
There is a useful video it produced that details these recommendations.
The green party thinks the govt 10 point plan only takes the UK just over halfway to meeting its interim climate targets while government support for new roads, airport expansion and fossil fuel infrastructure undermines progress.
It detailed its own 10 proposals that included a carbon tax, cancelling road building, stopping airport expansion, a frequent flier levy, no use of offsets, sustainable agricuture, healthier food and a universal basic income to tackle poverty and provide a financial safety net.
Commenting on the the governments pledge to cut at least 68% of emissions by 2030, MP Caroline Lucas said :
The PM's 10-point plan only takes us half way to meet interim climate targets while supporting new roads, airport expansion and fossil fuel infrastructure.
It should cancel the £27 Billion road building programme, rule out aiport expansion, end fossil fuel subsidies and implement a just transition so workers are part of a green sustainable future and not abandoned as communities were in the 1980's.
Ministers appear to be waking up to the climate emergency but have not yet grasped the scale of it.
There is greater ambition required and a need to put people’s wellbeing and the health of the environment at the heart of all government policy-making.
We get a piecemeal 10-point climate action plan from the Prime Minister one week, followed by climate inaction in the Spending Review a week later.
The Treasury needs to be shaken out of its climate torpor because it is holding back the essential transition to a low-carbon future.
The climate emergency has to be made the top priority across the whole of government.
We must take full responsibility for our overseas emissions and help others transition fast to a zero-carbon economy, rather than holding them back them by financing fossil fuel infrastructure overseas.
