Labour launch their Green Plan, nine years to the day since Cameron/husky photo op

Alongside their manifesto for disabled people and NHS week, Labour are today launching their Green Plan. This sets out the party’s environmental policies and, in particular, measures they will implement to deal with climate change.

The party’s policies include setting a legally binding target to decarbonise the country’s electricity supply by 2030, creating one million new green jobs by 2025 and providing energy efficiency upgrades to at least five million homes over this same time period.

Labour are pointing out that it’s nine years to the day since David Cameron made his trip to the Arctic to hug a husky. They’re using this opportunity to highlight their policies, which also include introducing a new domestic climate change adaptation programme to protect homes and businesses from extreme weather and developing a 25 year plan for the recovery of nature with clear five year milestones to measure progress.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives have said they won’t set a decarbonisation target, despite the Independent Committee on Climate Change advising otherwise and they have not ruled out privatising the country’s forests.

Caroline Flint MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change has said:

“Building a more equal society means tackling climate change and protecting nature. The aims we have championed throughout our history – from decent living standards for working people, to care for the vulnerable, and a route out of poverty for those in the developing world, are all at risk from spiralling global temperatures.

“The last Labour government was the first in the world to put carbon reduction targets into law, spurring investment and creating markets for thousands of British companies. The next Labour government will commit Britain to decarbonising our electricity supply by 2030 to give business certainty to invest so we can create a million green jobs over the next decade and invest in green technology and green infrastructure to power Britain’s economy forward into the future.”

Meanwhile, Maria Eagle MP, Labour’s Shadow Environment Secretary has said that the Labour party have a history of protecting the environment:

“Every radical, reforming Labour Government has extended public access to nature and safeguarded our environment for future generations to cherish and enjoy. With this plan, we aspire to do the same.

“Nature and the power it has to sustain economies and nourish all life should not be preserved just for a privileged few. The last Labour government championed the right to roam which opened up new land and provided increased access to our countryside and coast. The next Labour government will develop a 25 year plan for the recovery of nature, protect the public forest estate and bring nature closer to people by planting new woodland and trees closer to where people live.”

Also coinciding with the anniversary of Cameron’s infamous husky photo op, energy company Ecotricity – who have donated to Labour in recent months – have released this video, entitled “pants on fire”:

Well it seems pretty clear what they think of him…