This week Boris Johnson is expected set out his ten point environmental plan.
We’ve got five tests for him to meet…
If the Prime Minister is serious on climate, he must pass all five of these tests.
Nothing less will do.
1) TRANSFORM THE WHOLE ECONOMY
Too often, climate policies from Government focus almost exclusively on energy.
We need to decarbonise the whole economy.
The ten point plan must set out how we go net zero across every single sector, including housing, transport and agriculture.
2) ONLY SUPPORT CLEAN ENERGY TECH
Subsidising and extracting fossil fuels across the UK pours petrol on the fire of the climate emergency.
The ten point plan must involve a clear transition towards leaving all fossil fuels in the ground.
Subsidies should solely be used to develop new clean energy.
3) CARRY OUR OWN NET ZERO BURDEN
The UK must reach net-zero by its own effort, not by offloading the heavy lifting onto other countries.
This means no purchasing of carbon offsets from countries that have made better progress on renewable energy or relying on imported dirty electricity.
4) PROSPERITY FOR ALL
We must have a comprehensive Green New Deal and a credible strategy for:
– Winding down polluting, outdated sectors
– Protecting all livelihoods with a basic income
– Creating millions of good, Green jobs.
We can’t take action on climate without lifting everybody up.
5) PRIORITISE THE LOCAL
Across the world, leadership on moving to net zero has come from local authorities and regional governments.
We need government to share the power to tackle climate change with local government.
The changes that we need to see must be rapid and have to come from the bottom up.
