The next Labour leader needs to think big, red and green

By Melanie Smallman

Today the environment will be in the Labour Leadership spotlight when SERA co-hosts the “Labour in the World’ hustings in Bristol.

Given the immediate impact that the coalition government’s public sector cuts will have, particularly on the most vulnerable, it is perhaps easy to see why green issues haven’t featured that highly in the leadership contest so far. But if Labour wants to continue to stand up for the issues that matter to ordinary people, and if we want to be the party with the most positive and compelling vision for the future, then it would be a mistake to think that the environment is not our issue.

Because the effects of it will undoubtedly be felt in the UK during the lifetimes of those voting for the first time at the next election. And there’s growing evidence that it is starting to touch the lives of people living here already. While admittedly I didn’t meet a single person wanting to discuss Labour’s Low Carbon Transition Strategy on the doorstep during this year’s election campaign, I did meet people who complained about unaffordable heating bills, draughty housing or their worries about finding jobs in the future. The longer we ignore these underlying environmental issues in favour of seemingly more pressing economic concerns, the greater these problems will become, as climate change becomes the next major economic crisis.

But tackling climate change isn’t just about avoiding disaster. It also offers a promising route out of our current economic problems. Offshore wind alone is set to generate 40,000 jobs in the UK, with more to come in areas such as low carbon vehicles. But it’s a competitive market and while the coalition government is cutting support for the new green industries, other industrialised economies are ramping up their investments in low carbon industries – global spending on clean energy in 2010 is predicted to be around $ 200bn, with around $ 47bn from just China. Securing the UK’s reputation as a world leader in low carbon industries needs a government that believes in the role of an active state – a role that the coalition is showing can only be filled by Labour.

Most importantly of all for Labour though, tackling climate change is all about changing our society. It is therefore a huge opportunity to create the fairer and better society we believe in. Although most calls to action on the environment to date have focused upon the need to safeguard and preserve what we have now, and upon solutions that appear punative and unappealing, this isn’t the only perspective. As I’ve argued before, the solutions which work are going to be the ones that focus on promoting opportunity and creating jobs rather than restricting and protecting, on increasing fairness and improving people’s life chances rather than simply limiting what we have already.

Not only does the next Labour Leader nees to put a clearly articulated and truly progressive vision for the environment at the heart of their vision for the country then, but they must also have the courage to insist that only environmental solutions that help deliver this prosperous and fairer future will do. Because getting it wrong and accepting many currently popular environmental ideas means throwing in the progressive towel and accepting that our children’s lives will be more difficult than ours. Getting it right however not only offers the best chance of tackling the environmental challenges ahead by engaging the wider population with the actions we need to take, but could also provide a new and compelling reason for people to vote Labour again.