As the only leader of the G7 group of advanced economies to attend the Cop31 meeting in Turkey in person, our prime minister is to be congratulated.
The United States, true to the climate denialism embraced by the Trump administration, didn’t even send the most junior of federal officials along, consistent with its depressing withdrawal from the 2015 Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Nor did French president Emmanuel Macron choose to attend. But Andy Burnham was there to tell the assembled delegates that “Britain is back”, ready to “play its full part in tackling the climate emergency”.
What’s more, there is apparently to be a “new era of British leadership” – Mr Burnham reiterated the UK commitment to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Given that this type of goal has been enshrined in legislation since Mr Burnham was last in a Labour cabinet, in 2008, with the target strengthened in 2019, in truth he could do no other. Abolishing the climate change legislation is something that even Mr Burnham’s most loyal supporters couldn’t countenance.
Mr Burnham was also right to remind delegates, if they needed it, that the environment has slipped down the political agenda globally over the past decade, displaced by more immediate, tangible fears about the Covid pandemic, the cost of living and war. As he puts it: “The consensus we once enjoyed on science and climate has gone, and the reality is now the world will reach 1.5 degrees. Climate leadership and action have become more urgent. Britain will answer the call.”
The problem, as ever, is how to get to net zero in the face of other priorities pressing down on politicians, especially in the democratic nations. Mr Burnham knows all about this too. He, like many of his counterparts, finds himself in a difficult position, balancing the transcendent fight to save life on Earth, no less, with voters understandably upset about their home heating bills and the price of petrol, and much else. In common with his predecessor, and because he too has little choice in the matter, he has recently diluted some of the subsidiary, intermediate targets for emissions reductions on the path to net zero.
Sir Keir Starmer took the decision to relax the drive to phase out gas boilers in favour of heat pumps, and did the same for the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate, designed to boost electric car and van sales. Soon, ministers will formally announce that the ZEV plan is to be weakened still further, as effective demand for electric cars among private motorists continues to lag behind sales targets.
This has caused considerable, and unsustainable, distortions in the UK car market and the hard-pressed British automotive manufacturing sector, including the supply chain. Mr Burnham has also reversed policy on developing the North Sea Jackdaw gasfield, and may soon follow suit in the Rosebank oil reserve. Resolving a decades-long wrangle, permission has also been granted for a third runway at Heathrow. Favoured green investment projects have been shelved in favour of defence spending. Economic growth, the cost of living crisis and national security have eclipsed climate change in the government’s priorities.
However inevitable this may be, and however candid the prime minister is about the political realities, such reverses are disappointing. The argument within government, with Ed Miliband still being the most dedicated green warrior on the front bench, seems to be a losing one. Domestically-generated clean, cheap energy is a matter of national security, and a key factor in driving down energy bills for homes and for businesses. It is thus a foundation for a more competitive and prosperous economy, easing the cost of living and creating new jobs, both in the green energy sector and beyond.
The past few years should have taught Britain that it makes no sense to rely on Russia, the US, the Gulf or even friendly European neighbours for reliable, affordable energy supplies. No amount of new gas and oil exploration licences will make Britain self-sufficient in energy again because the North Sea has become so depleted. Nor would it make any difference to global energy prices. The case for green energy, for phasing out the internal combustion engine and moving from gas boilers, is as much about economics and security as environmentalism. Mr Burnham knows it, and believes in it, but he should say so more often, more loudly and more proudly.
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