Bold action needed on climate change say Labour

“We need bold, radical action now, if we are to come anywhere near reducing our emissions enough by 2050, to slow down global warming and tackle climate change.”

That was the clear message spelled out by Alan Whitehead MP, Labour’s Shadow Energy and Climate minister, when he spoke to a very attentive audience whilst visiting Carmarthenshire last week.

Mr Whitehead explained:

“We need a step change in the pace of investment in renewable energy sources, in order to meet, not just the gap left as we switch off our old coal-fired power stations and gradually move off gas, but also to meet the increased demand for electricity that we will see as we switch to running more of our transport on electricity.”

“Insulating and improving the energy efficiency of our existing housing stock needs to be done on a comprehensive scale, street by street – that is why Labour is saying this has to be delivered by National Government and local councils, and not to some piecemeal scheme where unscrupulous traders can rip off householders. And for new build homes, we should immediately introduce a zero carbon homes standard – plans for which have been abandoned by the current Conservative Government.”

“And then we come to land use, where we will need to see a very extensive tree planting and management scheme, to help absorb emissions – the UK is currently one of the least afforested countries in Europe, and that will have to change.”

Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate, Marc Tierney said:

“Climate change is happening now.  For years, we have talked about what needs to happen. The Welsh Government and our local councils have called a climate emergency which is a step in the right direction. But we cannot make a difference alone. The Tories at Westminster talk the talk, but support for renewables has dropped and the UK is off course in hitting our carbon reduction targets.  A Labour Government at Westminster will invest in the technology that can make a difference whilst also supporting the economy.”

Nia Griffith MP for Llanelli said:
“Alan has worked hard on the detail of how we can tackle climate change, what we need to do and the scale of the transformation that is needed. But to deliver this, we need a UK Labour Government, which puts the climate crisis at the heart of policy, and is prepared to intervene and use the levers of government to make it happen.”