The net zero transition will not happen without local communities

New Statesman​

25-04-2025

Photo by Annabel Lee-Ellis/Getty Images
We are living in the shadow of the previous Conservative government's failure to invest in renewable energy and insulate our homes. With Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine, these failures have contributed to an energy crisis that has left households struggling with soaring bills and businesses facing crippling costs.
Now more than ever, we need to strengthen our homegrown energy security and stop our dependency on fossil fuels that makes the UK vulnerable to volatile and uncertain energy prices.
We have a huge opportunity to become a leader in the green industries of the future, particularly in offshore wind. It is ours to lose, though. While the UK ranks second globally for fully operational floating offshore wind projects, a lack of vision and investment over the past decade has meant that we have not developed our manufacturing capacity at the same pace.The clean power ambition of the UK government now must be delivered in a way that builds our supply chain capability.
The prize must be a homegrown energy future, not one that is imported. Jobs in the oil and gas industry have halved over the past decade as the North Sea reserves have declined. We must pursue a just transition, reviving our manufacturing capacity by producing more wind components domestically and investing in our port infrastructure, home to some of our poorest communities.
However, we can only deliver on this promise if we also empower communities through the transition. That is why my colleagues and I were pleased to bring about an amendment to the legislation to establish GB Energy, a new publicly owned clean energy company. It now includes explicit support for both community-owned energy projects as well as community benefits for those that host energy infrastructure. The transition must happen with communities and not be something that is just done to them.
Communities and local authorities are under-utilised forces in the drive to lower emissions. Roughly one third of our emissions come from sectors directly influenced or shaped by local authorities. Local-led action could save £140bn in reaching net zero compared to a top-down approach, while delivering almost double the energy savings. More than national government or businesses, local authorities are uniquely positioned to connect climate action with actions that also restore local nature, manage flooding, reduce health inequalities and alleviate fuel poverty.
Yet there is no current framework to empower them to do this. They should be given a clearly funded statutory duty to meet climate and nature targets.
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At a time when Reform UK and the Conservatives seek to weaponise net zero and renewables, the path to building support for the energy transition is about winning people's trust by delivering tangible changes that benefit their lives. The majority of people polled say that they want to see more action on climate change. In my constituency, South Cambridgeshire, groups like the Zero Carbon Communities network, the Haslingfield and Harlton Eco-Group, 2G3S (Going Green in the Shelfords, Stapleford and Sawston), and Sustainable Shepreth are demonstrating that local action can be effective and impactful.
This government has paid too little attention to tackling energy demand. The Climate Change Committee's seventh carbon budget clearly underscores the importance of upfront investment in low-carbon heating and insulation, particularly for low-income households, alongside the delivery of new homes built to the highest energy efficiency standards. This approach would help reduce household bills and address the shocking reality that far too many people are still living in cold, damp homes, with devastating consequences for their mental and physical health.
In these volatile times, we must ensure the power, energy, and heating of our homes and businesses are in our hands; not in those of potentially hostile powers. Putin may have control over the gas supply, but he cannot shut off the wind, waves or sunshine.
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