There are certainly small things that we, as individuals, can do to help tackle the climate crisis. However, it’s also true that it’s down to governments to make the big decisions. Only these measures could help us avert some of the potential catastrophes we’re lurching towards due to our callous treatment of the planet we call home.
For years, many campaigners have felt that the climate crisis was a low priority for successive Conservative governments. With that in mind, there was some optimism when Keir Starmer was elected in July 2024 as the first Labour prime minister since 2010. Perhaps the issue of the environment would finally take centre stage in UK policy-making.
Let’s take a look at Labour’s track record thus far when it comes to the climate, including their biggest announcements and the things they have been able to deliver across their first four months in Downing Street.
Manifesto
Keir Starmer included climate change in his campaigning for the General Election
(Credit: Keir Starmer's Campaign)
One of the key elements of the Labour Manifesto for 2024 was a page promising to “make Britain a clean energy superpower”. The flagship environmental policy of this government was to be an £8.3bn investment to establish Great British Energy – a publicly-owned company designed to partner with industry and create jobs with an eye on harnessing the UK’s resources for creating renewable energy.
Labour also renewed its commitment to net-zero goals, pledging to pull financial levers to hit targets as specified in the Paris Climate Agreement. The party also promised to tackle water companies by putting failing providers under “special measures” and imposing automatic fines. There were further policies to increase access to nature and protect biodiversity.
During the election campaign, Ed Miliband – now the secretary of state for energy security and net zero – told The Guardian: “You only get to lead internationally if you set the right example at home. If we win the election, it will send a message round the world that the approach we are taking on clean energy, our argument on bills, independence, jobs and future generations, you can win an election on that argument.”
King’s Speech
Ed Miliband has tried to get Britain's climate policy moving
(Credit: Dan Dennison/No. 10 Downing Street)
Just a few weeks after the election, Labour laid out its priorities for the year’s ahead in its first King’s Speech since 2009. Three major bills were put forward in relation to the environmental policies promised in the election manifesto.
Unsurprisingly, the Great British Energy Bill had a big presence, with the new government pledging to make Great British Energy happen as promised. Elsewhere, the National Wealth Fund Bill planned to make £7.3bn available to invest in green industry and the Water (Special Measures) Bill would hand new powers to the regulator, while also making water company bosses personally liable for any breaking of the law.
In the first few weeks and months of his new role, Miliband got the ball rolling on Great British Energy while lifting the ban on onshore wind farms. He has also issued approval for three enormous solar farms, vowing to take on the “NIMBYs” who had held up these plans for a long time.
Budget
Rachel Reeves delivered the first Labour budget since 2009 earlier this year
(Credit: Lauren Hurley/DESNZ)
It was the broader economic decisions made by Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, in her first budget in October that grabbed headlines. However, there were a few key measures related to the climate crisis announced or nodded towards during her marathon speech.
Firstly, Reeves chose to maintain the freeze in fuel duty, which has now been in place since 2010. Last year, a study by Carbon Brief estimated that this policy alone has increased the UK’s CO2 emissions by seven per cent. This decision came in for criticism from green campaigners, particularly as Labour also chose to increase the single bus fare cap from £2 to £3 – making public transport more expensive. Former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas called the decision "utterly nonsensical”.
On the transport front, however, Reeves also pledged to fund HS2 into central London and increased duty on air travel – with a particularly hefty duty rise on “larger private jets”. Labour also committed to the phase-out of petrol and diesel cars. No cars powered solely by internal combustion engines will be sold by 2030 and, by 2035, hybrid models will also come off the forecourt.
The budget reaffirmed capital commitments for both Great British Energy and the National Wealth Fund for green investment – specifically in technologies including nuclear, green hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage. Meanwhile, there will be a hike in the windfall tax on oil and gas companies. More generally, Miliband’s department will see a sizeable increase in budget from £6.4bn in 2023-24 to £14.1bn in 2025-26.
COP29
Keir Starmer was one of the few major political leaders to attend COP29 in Baku
(Credit: Simon Dawson/No 10. Downing Street)
Keir Starmer was one of only two world leaders in the G7 to attend this year’s annual United Nations Climate Change Conference, held in Azerbaijan. He used his address at COP29 to announce a hugely ambitious emissions target: by 2035, Starmer wants carbon emissions cut by 81% from 1990 levels.
“Let me be clear, there is no national security, no economic security, no global security, without climate security," he said at the conference. Starmer also told the conference the UK was the first economy in the G7 to fully phase out coal power, following the closure of the final station in September.
Ed Miliband was also in attendance, telling The Guardian that the renewable energy transition all over the world is “unstoppable” and reaffirming his commitment to putting Britain at the heart of climate action. “The last government used to say we’re only 1% of global emissions, as if it was an excuse for inaction. In fact, it’s an instruction for global action. We’re only going to keep a future generation safe if we work with others to show leadership and it will be an absolute betrayal of future generations not to turn up, not to lean in, not to be part of this.”
We will have more reaction to COP29 on Voice Magazine next week. In the meantime, browse more articles from our new series about the climate crisis…
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