Labour’s green growth agenda has made it the UK’s party of business
Sir Ian Cheshire
This article was first published in Reuters.
July 29 – Before Brexit and before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Conservatives under David Cameron promised the UK electorate the “greenest government ever”.|
In 2019 Theresa May set the UK’s 2050 net zero target, with business onside, into legislation. This allowed the UK to point to global and domestic leadership that continues to set a high bar. Boris Johnson picked up the baton with ambitious climate targets, a proactive effort to engage small businesses in climate action, and a return to the world stage at COP26 in Glasgow.
This consistent message over multiple years and different leaders gave business the direction they needed to believe the UK was leading the world in the transition away from polluting fossil fuels.
But this all changed as successive Conservative prime ministers called into question the legitimacy and cost of climate action. The past few years of Conservative government was marked by cuts to solar subsidies and the axing of the zero-carbon homes policy, lack of clear roadmaps and funding for decarbonisation, fudged or dropped policies.
Recent analysis indicates the UK’s energy bills were 22 billion pounds higher over the past decade than if the Tories had held their earlier line that voting blue meant going green.
It’s part of UK tradition that the Conservatives are the party of business. But as the party moved away from a position of leadership on climate, business started to look elsewhere for a consistent partner.
A pre-election Ipsos poll revealed that businesses were most likely to trust Keir Starmer’s and Rachel Reeves’s policies to manage the economy.
With the wind of British business at his back, Keir Starmer now has the chance to rebrand Labour in the long term as the new party of business, working in partnership to get the green economy “done”.
The party’s climate agenda, spotlighted in the king’s speech, is ambitious, with more than 35 bills announced. Planning reforms will be central to economic strategy, making approval of onshore wind farms and transmission links easier. It reiterated commitment to a clean energy transition, announcing a bill to set up a new company, Great British Energy, headquartered in Scotland. There was also a promise of new legislation “to help the country achieve energy independence and unlock investment in energy infrastructure” and to support the production of sustainable aviation fuels.
The Climate Change Committee’s new progress report – timetabled for release before the election was called – reveals just how much accelerated climate action is needed in the UK, after the policy delays and rollbacks of the past two years.
It finds that only a third of the emissions reductions required to achieve the country’s 2030 target are currently covered by credible plans. It also highlights how changes and inconsistent messaging from government has undermined the UK’s energy security and left households exposed to the risk of higher energy bills.
For businesses, aligning with this new government’s green agenda is a strategic move for long-term economic sustainability and business viability. Net zero policies can open new revenue streams, cut operational costs through energy efficiency, and enhance brand reputation
They can also reduce energy costs for consumers, in their homes and on the roads and rails. By positioning itself as the champion of clean energy by 2030 and a green economy, the new government can change the story on climate action – pulling it away from doubters and naysayers and towards a clearer narrative of action that is good for business, for workers, consumers and our planet.
The path isn’t without obstacles. Delivering new onshore wind and electricity pylons, despite planning reform, may well be a painful process, especially in rural areas that may have elected a Labour MP for the first time in decades.
Shifting away from fossil fuels and cutting the UK’s emissions will mean keeping to decisions that grant no more licences for oil, gas and coal extraction. Uncertainty in how the outcome of elections will mature in the European Union and the U.S. will need sensitive and grown-up navigation
The UK will also need to clearly mark its return to international leadership at COP29 at the end of the year with a strong position on international climate finance and support for developing countries, as well as continuing the global efforts agreed in Dubai to phase out fossil fuels.
But in just its first few weeks in power, the new government is showing that it is determined to get on with the job at hand.
The party does, after all, have a legacy of driving climate action, having passed the pioneering Climate Change Act 2008 when it was last in power, the first country to create a legally binding roadmap to cut its emissions. So as Jesper Brodin, CEO of Ingka Group, said on a recent podcast, the road ahead is likely to be “bumpy – but downhill bumpy”.
This is the first in a series of comment pieces from members and partners of the We Mean Business Coalition, a nonprofit coalition that is working with the world’s most influential businesses to halve global emissions by 2030. The coalition turns 10 years old this year.