COP26: How Labour will tackle climate crisis and economy – Rachel Reeves

It should have been our Government that gave global leadership by showing the opportunities in developing a greener economy.

The talks were a chance to tap into Britain’s proud industrial heritage and build on the skills we already have to tackle the climate challenge.

Why tackling child poverty is Labour’s national priority – Wes Streeting

Stepping up the battle to cut greenhouse gas emissions 
means new jobs for pipe-fitters and plumbers to retro-fit 
homes.

COP26: Our moral duty to save the planet we call home – The Yorkshire Post says

It will also mean thousands of new jobs for construction managers and structural engineers on offshore wind farms, supply chain managers and quality technicians at gigafactories supplying the batteries for electric cars.

These are the kind of jobs that Labour’s Climate Investment Pledge will create.

Meanwhile, the Chancellor has flown in completely in the wrong direction with his Budget, cutting Air Passenger Duty on short haul-flights, while doing nothing to take the strain of rising energy bills from families.

It was a similar story at COP26. After two days lecturing others about reducing their emissions, I can imagine what campaigners made of Boris Johnson’s decision to return to London on a private plane instead of taking the train back from Glasgow.

It was another example of hypocrisy from a Prime Minister who had the nerve to tell leaders of developing nations that “words without action, without deeds are absolutely pointless”.

Unlike the Government, Labour has a clear strategy to put the UK at the forefront of global efforts to fight the impact of climate change.

As I said at our party conference, I am determined
to be the first green Chancellor.

A Labour government would lead by example by investing an additional £28bn annually until 2030 to tackle the climate crisis and grow our economy at the same time.

Those funds would help us create thousands of secure jobs.

We would also support developing nations by reversing the foreign aid cuts that the Chancellor confirmed will remain in place until at least 2024. That would help poorer countries cut their emissions.

We would put pressure on the countries who are responsible for the biggest emissions of harmful greenhouse gases to
do more and phase out fossil fuels.

We would get private finance on board by requiring financial institutions and FTSE 100 companies to publish details of their carbon footprint and adopt credible plans to show they are playing their part.

The longer the Government dithers and fails to act, the more the costs will spiral. According to the independent Office of Budget Responsibility, a delay of even a decade could double the cost of this green transition and see our debt spiral to 289 per cent of GDP.

The Government’s failure to deal with the climate emergency is inextricably linked to their mismanagement of the economy which has left my constituents in Leeds West and across the region facing a cost of living crisis. As winter looms, everyone will see heating bills soar – a situation made worse by the Government’s failure to invest in renewable energy.

The cost of a family shop is likely to go up by £180 a year and the bill for filling up at the petrol station has reached a new high.

Under Boris Johnson, this Parliament is likely to see total growth in disposable household income between 2019 and 2024 of just 0.5 per cent – the lowest since records began. We are stuck in a low growth and high tax economy.

Labour would get our economy growing again. We would buy, make and sell more in Britain under a Labour government. We would ensure standards are raised, we generate more business for British firms and we bring more jobs of the future to the UK.

Crucially, we would move to tackle soaring living costs by cutting VAT on domestic energy bills now for six months to ease the burden facing people this winter. Just as the Tories have no plans to tackle the climate crisis, they have no plans to boost our economic recovery or help households facing an incredibly difficult winter.

This Government has wasted a colossal amount of taxpayers’ money. Look at the £37bn squandered on Test and Trace in the midst of a pandemic – described as an “eye-watering” waste by Parliamentary spending watchdogs.

That money was wasted at a time when the cuts continue to public services and NHS workers and so many others are denied a decent pay rise.

Labour would spend taxpayers’ money wisely, tax people fairly, spending wisely and firing up our economy after a decade of anaemic growth under the Tories.

The race is on to secure the high-skilled, high-pay jobs in new industries that will get us to net zero.

Britain can be at the front of that race because of our industrial heritage and coastal geography – or we can ending up importing electric vehicles and electricity.

We can lead the way when it comes to tackling climate change and we must not squander that opportunity.

Rachel Reeves is the Shadow Chancellor and Labour MP for Leeds West.

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