UKPOL.CO.UK

Category: Environment

  • Kwasi Kwarteng – 2021 Comments on Green Jobs

    Kwasi Kwarteng – 2021 Comments on Green Jobs

    The comments made by Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business and Energy Secretary, on 16 March 2021.

    We were the first major economy to put into law our target to end our contribution to climate change, and today we’re taking steps to be the first major economy to have its own low carbon industrial sector.

    While reaching our climate targets will require extensive change across our economy, we must do so in a way that protects jobs, creates new industries and attracts inward investment – without pushing emissions and business abroad.

    Ahead of COP26, the UK is showing the world how we can cut emissions, create jobs and unleash private investment and economic growth. Today’s strategy builds on this winning formula as we transition low carbon and renewable energy sources, while supporting the competitiveness of Britain’s industrial base.

    Backed by more than £1 billion investment, today’s plans will make a considerable dent in the amount of carbon emissions emitting from our economy and put us on the path to eliminate our contribution to climate change by 2050.

  • Ed Miliband – 2021 Comments on the Government’s Green Jobs Announcement

    Ed Miliband – 2021 Comments on the Government’s Green Jobs Announcement

    The comments made by Ed Miliband, the Shadow Business Secretary, on 17 March 2021.

    Once again, the Government talks a big game on green but doesn’t deliver with nearly the scale or ambition that’s necessary. None of this money is new – these announcements simply allocate money already announced.

    Strip away the rhetoric and we see the fact that while Germany is investing 7 billion euros in a hydrogen strategy our Government is investing a tiny fraction of that.

    We had a Budget that failed the steel, automotive and aerospace sectors and once again the Government appears to have nothing to say about those key sectors.

    And on buildings, we still have no long-term government strategy about how to decarbonise housing and no accounting for the £1bn cut to the Green Homes Grant.

    We need an ambitious green stimulus to support industry to decarbonise ​and secure jobs for the long-term, starting with a £30bn green recovery. The Government has failed to deliver yet again.

  • Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2021 Comments on Deforestation

    Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2021 Comments on Deforestation

    The comments made by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Energy Minister, on 12 March 2021.

    The impact of deforestation is devastating – on those vulnerable rainforest communities, and on global efforts to combat climate change. And the health of the earth’s tropical forests is critical to the health of our planet – we need to do all we can to protect and preserve this vital ecosystem.

    Today’s new fund will ramp up investment in projects on the frontline of this effort, while also giving financial institutions the confidence they need to invest, which could attract and secure as much as £850 million from the private sector.

  • Alok Sharma – 2021 Comments on Hitachi Sponsoring COP26

    Alok Sharma – 2021 Comments on Hitachi Sponsoring COP26

    The comments made by Alok Sharma, the COP26 President, on 10 March 2021.

    Businesses have a key role to play in helping us build back greener and Hitachi has shown strong leadership by making a clear commitment to combating climate change through science based measures.

    We know that technology has a vital role in helping us all achieve a low carbon future and Hitachi is at the forefront of this. I am delighted to welcome them as a Principal Partner for COP26.

  • Ed Miliband – 2021 Comments on the Steel Industry

    Ed Miliband – 2021 Comments on the Steel Industry

    The comments made by Ed Miliband, the Shadow Business Secretary, on 4 March 2021.

    Our manufacturers should be at the heart of our economic recovery. But the Budget left them out in the cold. No mention of steel, no new support for aerospace, no new help for our automotive sector.

    Manufacturing industries are crucial to communities across the country, providing highly-paid, highly-skilled jobs in Yorkshire, the North East, the Midlands and South Wales. To truly rebalance our economy away from London, we need to invest in these leading industries.

    We are falling behind other countries in the support our government is providing and we will all pay the price. We needed to see an ambitious £30 billion green stimulus package to create jobs, tackle the climate emergency, and secure the long-term future our manufacturers should rightly have.

  • Luke Pollard – 2021 Comments on Trade and Agriculture Commission Report

    Luke Pollard – 2021 Comments on Trade and Agriculture Commission Report

    The comments made by Luke Pollard, the Shadow Environment and Rural Affairs Secretary, on 2 March 2021.

    Ministers need to take note of this report and ensure that they deliver more transparency over what future trade deals will mean for our farmers. Labour campaigned with our farmers for the Government to make good on their manifesto promise on food import standards which they still refuse to put into law.

    Ministers need to take the challenges on the climate crisis and labour standards in this report seriously. Above all they must not use future trade deals to undercut our farmers and allow cheaper food produced to lower environmental and animal welfare standards to be sold in Britain. It would put our farmers out of business and encourage a race to the bottom in standards.

    They must also act to encourage more people to buy British food. The Government could spend more of the £2.4bn public sector catering budget on British producers.

  • Ed Miliband – 2021 Comments on a Green Recovery

    Ed Miliband – 2021 Comments on a Green Recovery

    The comments made by Ed Miliband, the Shadow Secretary of State for Business, on 1 March 2021.

    We are at a pivotal moment for our country as we look towards recovery. The UK is experiencing an unemployment crisis and a climate emergency that will define the next decade. Rather than go back to business as usual, Labour believes we need bold action now to tackle these crises together and create a better future – by creating secure jobs in the clean industries that should be at the heart of our economy.

    In this Budget it’s crucial we see support to help besieged businesses survive immediate pressures, but we also need stimulus on an ambitious scale to boost businesses’ competitiveness and support their green transition, and to create jobs – especially for young people that have seen opportunities dashed during the pandemic.

    Labour is calling for £30bn planned capital investment to be strategically and rapidly invested in low-carbon sectors. From investing in electric battery development and green steel technologies to secure a long-term future for our manufacturers, to investing in offshore wind to create jobs in coastal communities, Labour would target funding to create opportunities right across the country.

    The Government’s rhetoric offers simply a green mirage, but without meaningful action and investment it will remain a mirage. We need a proper green stimulus plan not empty words.

  • Matthew Pennycook – 2021 Comments on the UNFCCC Synthesis Report

    Matthew Pennycook – 2021 Comments on the UNFCCC Synthesis Report

    The comments made by Matthew Pennycook, the Shadow Climate Change Minister, on 26 February 2021.

    With the election of a new US President and China’s recent commitment to carbon neutrality by 2060, the past few months have offered grounds for cautious optimism on climate change. But this report serves as a wake-up call. It sets out in stark terms just how wide the gulf remains between national pledges made and what the world must do to avoid catastrophic global heating.

    This year’s COP26 summit is the last best chance to keep alive the hope of the Paris Agreement that warming might be limited to 1.5°C. As its hosts, the UK has a unique responsibility not only to do whatever it takes to maximise global ambition but also to secure agreement on a roadmap for delivering that ambition.

    It’s essential we lead by example. But by remaining seriously off track to meet its existing climate targets whilst promising more ambitious ones; by laying claim to the mantle of climate leadership abroad whilst approving new coal mines at home; or by seriously undermining our standing with those on the frontline of the climate crisis by cutting the overseas aid budget, the Government continues to damage its credibility as the custodian of the COP process and by implication the prospects of success in Glasgow in November.

  • Grant Shapps – 2021 Comments on Ghost Flights

    Grant Shapps – 2021 Comments on Ghost Flights

    The comments made by Grant Shapps, the Secretary of State for Transport, on 26 February 2021.

    I want to restart international travel as soon as it is safe and the slots waiver is a critical part of making that happen.

    With airlines flying a smaller proportion of their usual schedules, the waiver means carriers can reserve their finances, reduce the need for environmentally damaging ‘ghost flights’ and allow normal services to immediately restart when the pandemic allows.

  • Luke Pollard – 2021 Comments on Amazon Rainforest Plots Being Sold on Facebook

    Luke Pollard – 2021 Comments on Amazon Rainforest Plots Being Sold on Facebook

    The comments made by Luke Pollard, the Shadow Environment Secretary, on 26 February 2021.

    The Amazon is our planet’s green lung and it’s vital we protect it from destruction. Social media companies have a moral duty to ensure their operations are not enabling deforestation and illegal sales of forest.

    The Government must urgently act to make sure that UK companies do not trade on the back of rainforest destruction.