General Election 2015:
The Conservatives on climate change
By Merlin Sibley
The UK general election takes place on Thursday 7 May. But do you know where the parties stand on the main issues?
To make sense of it all, we’re putting together a series of articles looking at the pledges and track records of the main parties. Here’s our guide to where the Conservatives stand on climate change…
The story so far…
A green promise
Back in the depths of time, before becoming Prime Minster, David Cameron came up with the slogan ‘vote blue go green’. Around the same time he visited the Arctic glaciers to see at first hand the impacts of climate change. Then, after moving into Downing Street, Cameron proclaimed his would be the ‘greenest government ever’.
Since those heady days, the Prime Minister has remained relatively quiet on the issue of climate change and how to tackle it. It wasn’t until last year that he made a major public speech on the issue, saying at the United Nations that climate change was one of the most serious threats facing the world.
The greenest government ever?
Assessing how well the Conservatives have done in government isn’t so easy when you have to factor in the fact that they’ve been part of a coalition government. Within government both Conservatives, such as the former Climate Change Minister Greg Barker, and Liberal Democrats, such as Ed Davey (Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change), have helped drive forward the government’s agenda on climate change.
Under David Cameron, the Conservative Party has advocated a diversification in our energy supply, with a focus on moving towards low-carbon energy sources. However, the Conservatives have been less supportive of onshore windfarms — an issue which has put them at odds with their coalition partners.
One of the Conservative Party’s most controversial policies has been their strong support for expanding the potential for fracking for shale gas and oil within the UK. It’s not just environmentalists and local campaigners who have criticised fracking. Recently, an all-parliamentary group of MPs said that this policy could be ‘incompatible’ with the UK’s climate targets.
Some of the most positive decisions made by the current government have been to put forward two carbon budgets for the 2020s. For a time it seemed as though they might backtrack on a commitment to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2027, due to doubts raised by prominent Conservatives such as Chancellor George Osborne — who was concerned about the impacts on business of such a commitment.
Conservative ministers have been criticised for not dealing with the threat that climate change poses to the UK and for failing to communicate this with the general public. In the aftermath of last year’s widespread floods there were accusations that the government had cut funding for flood defences. The floods did at least result in the Prime Minister acknowledging the fact that they probably were a consequence of climate change.
Making a Green Deal
The Green Deal is the government’s push to improve energy efficiency in UK homes. This is intended to bring down our energy usage — which ultimately helps reduce carbon emissions. For consumers, this has the added benefit of bringing down our bills.
The Green Deal scheme offers loans and cashback payments to enable people to make energy efficient improvements to their homes. Such improvements could be anything from installing loft and wall insulation, to getting a more energy efficient boiler, or fitting double glazing.
The Green Deal initiative got off to a bad start with very little interest in the early days. Former Conservative Climate Minister, Greg Barker, has claimed that a major problem has been the lack of engagement by the big energy companies. Despite problems with the scheme, last year there was big demand for funds from the Green Deal and it seems likely that most of the main political parties will look to maintain and potentially expand it.
Setting up a green bank
Under the coalition government, the Green Investment Bank was set up with support from Chancellor George Osborne. Its basic remit has been to invest in green projects — such as offshore wind farms, energy efficiency schemes and energy from waste projects. This is designed to boost the so-called ‘green economy’ and create new jobs. Already a success, the Green Investment Bank has won cross-party support.
Green crap and green blobs
In 2013 David Cameron was reported as having said we need to “get rid of all this green crap”. He was apparently referring to legislation related to the environmental and climate change.
It’s never been confirmed whether Cameron actually did make these remarks but they do reflect the unease of some Conservatives with the green policy agenda. Senior figures, such as Chancellor George Osborne, have raised fears that the move to a low-carbon economy may hamper economic growth. Many Conservatives remain hostile to the construction of onshore windfarms.
A few Conservative MPs still question the need to tackle climate change and raise doubts as to whether it’s caused by human activity. Members of this camp include former Environment Secretary Owen Paterson, who infamously described the environmental lobby as a “green blob”.
The pledges
It remains to be seen what, if any, climate change policies the Conservatives include in their manifesto for the 2015 election. However, the fact that David Cameron recently committed himself to a joint climate change agreement with Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg is a positive sign. The pledge commits the parties to continuing with targets to reduce carbon emissions, as well as to working towards a binding global climate deal.
The lowdown
So far, the Conservatives have…
1. Promised to be the greenest government ever
2. Told UN: “climate change is one of most serious threats facing our world”
3. Want to diversify energy supply and promote clean energy
4. Support fracking in the UK
5. Have committed to carbon budgets until 2020s
6. Were under fire for cuts to flood defence spending
7. Created the Green Deal but it got off to shaky start
8. Created the Green Investment Bank and gained cross-party support
9. Have some fears that a low-carbon economy would harm growth
10. Have some hostility to onshore wind farms
11. Signed a cross-party agreement with Labour and the Lib Dems
Who should I vote for?
If you are considering voting Conservative in the election but are concerned about climate change issues, it’s worthwhile checking out what your candidate/MP believes. Is s/he a climate sceptic or a climate champion?
Challenges like #climatechange demand new ideas. Welcome to a different kind of future. Follow @climate_shift on Twitter.
