Time is short. The climate crisis is rapidly accelerating, and those least responsible, here in the UK and overseas, are on the front lines and increasingly threatened.
The climate crisis is gathering pace.
This summer was the UK’s warmest on record. Around the world people’s lives and livelihoods are increasingly being wrecked by searing heatwaves, floods, drought and storms of unprecedented force and frequency. With global efforts to cut emissions veering wildly off course – and climate scientists warning that we risk crossing dangerous tipping points – these extremes will only worsen.
As usual, it’s the less well-off, who have done least to cause this crisis, who bear the brunt. In the UK, older people, young children, and those with health conditions struggle most during extreme heat. Disabled people face the greatest threat during floods. People of colour are disproportionately impacted on multiple fronts. And future generations could face multi-metre sea level rises.
Earlier this year, a Friends of the Earth study mapped the parts of England most at risk from dangerous heatwaves, areas that include nearly 10,000 care homes, over 1,000 hospitals, and more than 10,000 nurseries.
And when floods strike, places where money is tight – from struggling coastal towns in Britain to low-income islands like the Solomon Islands – have far fewer financial resources to help them recover.
Yet instead of stepping up to this existential challenge and addressing the grave environmental injustices, politicians on the right are calling for us to abandon climate action. This ignores the fact that action on climate change can improve peoples’ lives through warmer homes, cheaper bills, cleaner air, more public transport and thousands of new jobs across the UK.
The Prime Minister has acknowledged that decarbonisation is a huge economic opportunity – and he is right.
According to the CBI, the UK’s green economy grew by 10% in 2024 – three times faster than the economy overall. It’s already delivering high-wage jobs, cutting emissions, and boosting energy security. With real backing, that growth could surge. Far from hollowing out industry, climate action is the foundation of a stronger, fairer and more prosperous Britain.
In a global race to secure the green industries and jobs of the future, creating policy uncertainty is foolhardy in the extreme. Yet that is exactly what Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch did earlier this month when she pledged to scrap the Climate Change Act.
The truth is that Reform UK – who have vowed to use every lever to block new wind, solar and battery projects – and now the Conservative Party, are waging a war against jobs by standing against climate progress. At the same time, they are also ignoring the plight of those on the front lines of climate extremes.
A Climate Plan that delivers for people
Next week the government has a golden opportunity to show that climate action really can deliver for people, as well as the planet.
Its new climate plan – ordered by the High Court after Friends of the Earth and ClientEarth successfully challenged the previous government’s plan – is Labour’s chance to take on the right and show real leadership.
Public support for climate action is strong, even among Reform and Conservative voters. A recent Friends of the Earth poll found 65% of Reform voters and 83% of Conservatives back more homegrown renewable energy.
To succeed, this plan must be ambitious, practical, and transformative. And as well as meeting the UK’s legally-binding climate targets, it must make people’s lives better – especially those struggling most. If the government is to take the public with them in rebuilding a society fit for the future, this is absolutely vital.
Friends of the Earth is calling on the government to:
-Fix Britain’s heat-leaking homes. This must start in the most-in-need areas through a nationwide street by street insulation programme that would make it cheaper for people to stay warm in winter, as well as cutting UK carbon emissions. Labour’s promised £13.2 billion over five years is certainly welcome but falls far short of what’s needed to help nearly 10 million low-income households who live in poorly insulated homes. Properly tackling the crisis will require around £6 billion a year for a decade – which could be funded through additional taxes on the biggest polluters and very wealthy.
-Make electricity bills cheaper. Building more renewable energy faster will lead to cheaper bills over time. But the main reason electricity is so expensive is because of the high price of gas, which determines the wholesale price of electricity almost all the time – even though gas only generates about 30% of our power. Addressing this fault in the system could significantly lower bills. Another quick way to address high electricity prices would be to shift ‘policy costs’ currently added to bills – such as such as historic subsidies for renewables or new subsidies for nuclear – onto general taxation, which would be a much fairer approach.
-Introduce a ‘social tariff’ to provide lower energy prices for low-income households.
-Double bus services by 2030 and make public transport cheaper and more reliable, helping those without a car to access jobs, services, and social networks.
-Invest in green jobs and deliver a fair transition for workers in sectors like oil and gas, vehicle manufacturing and steel. Ed Miliband’s Clean Energy Jobs Plan – announced earlier this month – is an excellent start.
-Expand home-grown renewable energy, tapping into Britain’s vast wind and solar potential to build lasting energy independence.
Time to lead
Time is short. The climate crisis is rapidly accelerating, and those least responsible, here in the UK and overseas, are on the front lines and increasingly threatened.
We urgently need a climate action plan that tackles the dual crises of climate and inequality. Because aside from being common sense, when the solutions are so often one and the same, it’s crucial for winning hearts and minds.
Starmer has a rare chance to lead with courage, challenge the defeatism of the right, and set out a bold, people-first vision for a cleaner, fairer and stronger Britain.
He cannot afford to waste it.
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