Labour: Strengthened 2030 emissions target is “minimum we should aim for”

Ed Miliband has welcomed the newly strengthened 2030 greenhouse gas emissions target for the UK announced by the government – but declared that the 68% reduction is the “minimum we should aim for” in the fight against climate change.

The Prime Minister has set a new goal for 2030 of at least 68% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions – up from 53% – by the end of the decade compared to 1990 levels. The government says this will ensure the UK meets net zero by 2050.

Responding to the announcement, the Shadow Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary reiterated Labour’s demand to bring forward £30bn of capital investment in low-carbon industries over the next 18 months.

Miliband said: “Our goal should be to go further and faster, cutting the significant majority of emissions in this decisive decade, which is the right way to lead in creating the climate jobs of the future and keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees.

“As we move to this higher target, it is clear there is now a yawning gap between the government’s aspirations and its policies to deliver them. The government didn’t have the policies to meet their previous target and the chasm will be even greater now.

“So, now we urgently need a plan with the policies to tackle the climate emergency and to do so in a way that creates jobs and is fair. That should start with a £30bn stimulus to be invested in a green recovery over the next 18 months”.

The new 2030 goal, which determines the UK’s nationally determined contribution (NDC) under the Paris agreement, is in line with the recommendation issued by experts at the independent climate change committee who advise the government.

Responding to the news of a more ambitious 2030 target, a Labour for a Green New Deal campaign group spokesperson said: “Once again we’re seeing a failed Tory tribute act to Labour’s Green Industrial Revolution of 2019.

“Ed Miliband is right to point out the enormous gap between the Tories’ carbon pledges and their paltry spending promises. But for Labour to regain its role as the party of climate, the party must go beyond pointing out holes and voice the alternative.

“A radical Green New Deal which invests at least £250bn and takes key industries into public ownership. Crucially, as mandated by Labour members and trade unions in a historic motion at party conference last year, it must mean full decarbonisation by 2030.”

The government announcement follows a new report on ‘achieving net zero’ by the National Audit Office (NAO) today, which suggests that meeting the 2050 net-zero greenhouse emissions goal represents a “colossal challenge”.

The paper released by the independent public spending watchdog highlighted a lack of any process for monitoring progress towards net zero emissions, other than annual reports and forecasts from the BEIS department.

It also pointed out that there is no mechanism for escalating problems identified by monitoring information, and that neither BEIS nor the Treasury gather information on the overall costs and benefits of government policies in this area.

The NAO reported that departments have reduced emissions from their buildings and operations by an estimated 46% since 2009, but that this does not include those with a significant impact outside of government, such as schools and the NHS.

It also found that public sector buildings emitted eight million tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2018, 9% of all emissions in the buildings sector. The NAO said “there is more work to be done” to ensure public sector bodies reduce their emissions.

Responding to the new report, chair of the public accounts committee Labour MP Meg Hillier said the government must “lead by example” in efforts to reach its 2050 target and told the administration to “shift its efforts up a gear”.

The independent watchdog said the costs of achieving net zero are “highly uncertain”. The climate change committee estimated in 2019 that the annual costs of achieving net zero could increase over time to around 1-2% of GDP in 2050.

But the NAO warned that the cost of inaction would be far greater due to the need to adapt to substantial climate change, including building flood defences and managing the health implications associated with higher temperatures.

Positive Money executive director Fran Boait said: “There is plenty of room for the government to increase public investment, and this should be a priority in ensuring we have a truly green and fair recovery from the Covid crisis.

“But, as the NAO points out, we also need much more action to align private finance, which is currently supporting temperature rises of more than 3.5 degrees, with the government’s climate targets.”

The NAO stressed that while BEIS has developed a plan for engaging the private sector, “risks remain to securing the investment required”. It has recommended monitoring arrangements to track progress in securing the investment.

Fran Boait advised: “One of the most important things the Chancellor could do is updating the mandate of the Bank of England, which underpins and oversees our financial system, to help it support a fair transition to net zero.

“This could empower our central bank to make changes to its existing toolkit, to ensure it maximises green investment and jobs, but to also bring in new tools to steer the lenders it regulates away from fossil fuels and towards greener alternatives.”

The NAO has recommended that the government develop and monitor clear, relevant and consistent data on progress on net-zero policies across departments other bodies and gathers information on how much it has committed and spent.

Its paper also concluded that the government has not clearly set out the roles of public bodies outside central departments, despite many including local authorities playing critical roles in the drive towards net zero by 2050.

The announcement from Johnson today comes ahead of the climate ambition summit this month, coinciding with the fifth anniversary of the Paris agreement and calling for countries to submit NDCs ahead of the COP26 climate talks in 2021.

The Prime Minister set out his long-delayed climate change plan last month. The £12bn proposals were criticised by Labour and others for both failing to match the scale of the investment required and for repeating existing pledges.

Labour slammed the ten points announced by Johnson as “rebadged funding pots and reheated pledges” and stressed the need for an “ambitious plan”. The party highlighted that only £4bn represented new spending commitments.

Think tank Institute for Public Policy Research recently calculated that the UK needs an additional £33bn in annual investment to reach its 2050 goal. The £4bn in Johnson’s plan represents just 12% of what the organisation has argued is needed.

Labour published its own green economic recovery plan earlier last month, developed following a consultation launched in June this year. The party has challenged the government to support the creation of 400,000 new jobs in a green Covid recovery.