What Tomorrow's UK Election Means for Climate and Energy
The coronation of King Keir or a shock victory for Rishi Sunak? If you want to know the UK General Election might mean for climate and energy, listen now.
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The UK leads the G20 when it comes to cutting emissions, and that’s partly because there has been a broad consensus in Parliament on climate policy over the past two decades. Is all that about to change based on what might happen tomorrow?
As recently as 2012, coal generated nearly 40% of the UK's electricity. Today, it is almost zero. And in September, Britain's last coal station will close for good. Renewables have flooded in to take coal's place: 2020 was the first year in the UK's history that renewables produced more electricity than fossil fuels, with 43% coming from wind — onshore and offshore — solar, hydro and bioenergy. In total, emissions have fallen 45% since 2000 and over 50% since the iconic date of 1990. This should be seen as a success story.
However, that consensus appears to be fraying, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party taking an increasingly skeptical view of climate action, awarding new oil and gas drilling licenses in the North Sea, and pushing back key dates on electric vehicle mandates. Labour has presented itself as the more climate friendly of the two main parties, yet has come under huge scrutiny since scrapping their flagship £28 billion a year climate pledge, with many doubting the party’s commitment to serious climate policy.
With Labour all but guaranteed to win a majority, how can the UK become an international leader on climate once more? How will their much vaunted GB Energy work? And can they fulfil their pledge to make UK electricity zero-carbon by 2030, just five years away?
Bryony and I put these questions and more to Dr Simon Evans, the deputy editor and senior policy editor at Carbon Brief, a UK-based website covering the latest developments in climate science, climate policy and energy policy.
Listen now to our three-way conversation on Cleaning Up. Visit cleaningup.live, search for Cleaning Up on your podcast platform of choice, or watch the video on YouTube here.