Latest news with #greenpolicy
Telegraph
14-07-2025
- Automotive
- Telegraph
Ed Miliband: Climate change threatens British way of life
The British way of life is 'under threat' because of climate change, Ed Miliband has claimed. The Energy Secretary suggested that those who opposed Labour's approach to green policy would be 'betraying future generations' by inaction. Mr Miliband made the comments in response to a Met Office report that found that Britain has twice as many extremely hot days a year than it did at the end of the 20th century. The State of the Climate report revealed data that show there are now 42 days a year which are more than 5C hotter than the average temperature between 1961 and 1990. These anomalously warm days only occurred 20 times, on average, for each year during the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Responding to the findings, the Energy Secretary said: 'Our British way of life is under threat. 'Whether it is extreme heat, droughts, flooding, we can see it with our own eyes, that it's already happening, and we need to act.' Describing the results as a 'stark warning', he added: 'Unless we act on the cause of what is happening, the cause of what is changing our climate, then we will be betraying future generations.' It comes after it emerged that the Government will unveil plans for £700 million of taxpayer-funded subsidies to encourage the public to buy more electric vehicles (EVs). Labour has retaind Conservative plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, which will force motorists to switch to electric-powered vehicles. But Heidi Alexander, the Transport Secretary, admitted that she did not own an EV herself, which she said was down to living in a terraced house without a driveway. She told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: 'Like millions of people in this country – I bought a new car about six years ago – I'm thinking about the next car that I will purchase and it will definitely be an EV.' Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK, accused Mr Miliband of wanting to 'send us back to the dark ages'. He told The Telegraph that the comments represented 'total twaddle by scaremonger-in-chief Miliband'. Mr Tice added: 'The climate has always changed and always will. Much better and cheaper that we adapt to it sensibly rather than arrogantly think we can stop the power of the sun and volcanoes. Miliband's answer is to send us back to the dark ages, like cavemen.' Analysis from the Met Office also shows that the number of days 8C above average have tripled to nine, and 10C or hotter days are up four-fold to three a year. Extreme heat is now much more common in the UK and a separate Met Office study recently found summers could now conceivably reach 45C. However, the average temperature is also rising with the 2024 average temperature in the UK being 9.8C, up from 8.3C for the 1961 – 1980 average. The State of the Climate report is an annual publication from the Met Office which provides a 10-year 'snapshot of the UK's current climate from a climate change perspective'. It is a peer-reviewed study published in the International Journal of Climatology. Its figures show sea levels around Britain are rising quicker than the global average for the first time and showing signs of speeding up. UK waters have risen by 19.5 cm (8 inches) since 1901, the study found, with two thirds occurring in the last 32 years. The last three years have also seen the biggest annual rises on record. A 2018 forecast suggests UK sea levels could rise by around two metres by 2100. Long-standing weather records Data on rainfall and temperature records in the UK reach back to the 19th century and the network of on-the-ground weather stations allow for long-term analysis of climate trends. The authors of the report say that extreme weather conditions are becoming more common, including wetter conditions in the winter and hotter temperatures in the summer. This is driven by climate change and increases the risk of heatwaves and floods, the scientists say. In the last ten years there has been a 50 per cent rise in how many months counties are seeing twice the average level of rainfall, it found. The study also found that snow is becoming increasingly rare in Britain, with snow events now 'less frequent and severe than they were in the 1960s, 1970s or 1980s'. Chloe Brimicombe, science engagement manager at the Royal Meteorological Society, told The Telegraph: 'With our changing climate we are seeing winters becoming wetter and summers becoming hotter. We are seeing faster changes between two weather patterns. 'Extreme weather has become more common because as we shift the mean of events, those that are more extreme become more likely. 'The implication is that throughout the year we are likely to see flooding in the winter impacting properties, and heatwaves and drought in the summer impacting crops and the health of individuals. 'Weather changes from day to day, but the overall climate of the UK is different from that of the 20th century.'
The Sun
10-06-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Blow for Labour as more voters think Net Zero has made them worse off than improved living standards, damning poll finds
MORE voters think Net Zero has made them worse off rather than improving living standards, polling shows. Some 38 per cent say they have been negatively affected by Sir Keir Starmer's green rules. 1 Just 21 per cent think their lives have improved, with 34 per cent saying it has not made a difference, Merlin Strategies found. In a blow to the PM, a fifth of Labour supporters say their lives are worse. Reform and Tory voters are the most likely to say Net Zero has lowered their living standards. Among the policies are a ban on new petrol and diesel car sales and plans to decarbonise the electricity grid but critics say this will lead to huge bills. Lawrence Newport, of the Looking For Growth think tank, said: 'If the Government doesn't start to secure our energy grid, voters will punish them.' The Department for Net Zero said: 'We'll reach Net Zero in a way that treads lightly on people's lives.'
Telegraph
03-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Cleverly: We can grow our economy without killing net zero
The Conservatives must not turn their back on protecting the environment, Sir James Cleverly will argue in an apparent split from Kemi Badenoch's approach to green policy. In a speech on the importance of the green agenda, Sir James will say it is wrong to choose between economic growth and mitigating climate change. The former foreign secretary narrowly lost the last Tory leadership race to Mrs Badneoch last year, and some MPs believe he would run again if there were another contest. In one of her first policy positions in the role, Mrs Badenoch dropped support for the country reaching net zero emissions by 2050, because she said she believed it 'impossible' to achieve. Sir James will use a speech at the pro-green Conservative Environment Network (CEN) on Wednesday to argue that it was essential that the party did not give up on the climate agenda. The former leadership contender, from the moderate wing of the party, will call for the Tories to reject 'both the luddite Left and the luddite Right' on green policy. Sir James will say: 'Conservative environmentalism doesn't mean a choice between growth and sustainability. It means creating policies that unlock the potential of new industries while ensuring that we protect the environment. 'It's about finding practical solutions to achieve long-term growth without sacrificing our environmental obligations.' The former Cabinet minister will add: 'The idea that we must choose between a strong economy and protecting our environment is outdated. The future I believe in is one where these two aims go hand in hand, driving innovation and opportunity.' His remarks represent a stark contrast to Mrs Badenoch's pitch in March, in which she declared: 'Net zero by 2050 is impossible. 'I don't say that with pleasure. Or because I have some ideological desire to dismantle it – in fact, we must do what we can to improve our natural world. 'I say it because anyone who has done any serious analysis knows it can't be achieved without a serious drop in our living standards or by bankrupting us.' It marked a departure from the past decade of Tory green energy policy after successive prime ministers backed legally binding targets. The 2050 target was signed into law by Theresa May in 2019. In a draft speech for the annual Sam Baker Memorial Lecture, seen by The Telegraph, Sir James at no point refers to Mrs Badenoch by name, nor specifically cites the net zero 2050 target. But the substance of his remarks casts him as a pro-green Conservative politician, as he says that the UK 'must push further, faster, and smarter' on green technology. The former foreign secretary will say: 'Conservative governments have made remarkable strides in offshore wind energy. 'Our ambitious policies have driven investment, positioning the UK as a global clean energy superpower. This is not just about installing turbines; it's a strategic vision linking energy policy with our economic and national security priorities.' He will add: 'We are caught between two tribes of Neo-Luddites: The negative Right, claiming that the way things are now is just fine, [that] concerns about emissions, habitat loss, and falling yields are scaremongering. 'Their motto: all change, even for the better, is a bad idea. And the negative Left, suspicious of technology. Believing things were better before the car, the internal combustion engine, before the steam engine, before the wheel. 'The 'let's not move forward' tribe is in a bidding war with the 'let's move backwards' tribe. They're both wrong.' The comments will be seen as an attack on both Labour and Reform UK, with Nigel Farage having pledged to scrap net zero subsidies. The CEN said that Mrs Badenoch made a 'mistake' by dropping the net zero 2050 target. Reacting to her speech in March, the think tank said that her speech 'undermines the significant environmental legacy of successive Conservative governments who provided the outline of a credible plan for tackling climate change'. 'Never say never again' Sir James has kept a relatively low profile since losing out to Mrs Badenoch in the party leadership contest last year and heading to the party's backbenches. After a particularly successful Conservative Party Conference in October, he shot to the top of the MPs' ballot before unexpectedly crashing out in the final round of MP voting. A blame game ensued, with some claiming that Grant Shapps, the head of Sir James's campaign, got his numbers wrong and too many MPs engaged in tactical voting for other candidates. But in a GB News interview in April, he did not rule out another leadership tilt, adding: 'I just say, never say never again.' After Mrs Badenoch took over from Rishi Sunak last November, the Tories briefly enjoyed a small poll lead over Labour and were in first place on 29 per cent. But a haemorrhaging of support to Reform UK since has been blamed for the party's dwindling fortunes, with the Tories coming fourth behind them, Labour and the Liberal Democrats in a recent poll. The Tory leader's supporters say that another leadership election could damage the party even further and cause a further slip in support.
