Tackling climate change
Labour is committted to maintaining the campaign for global action on climate change. The Labour government has a strong track record on green investment, but is seeking to help Britain continue to reap the rewards of early action at home.
Following on from the Budget announcements of £60 million for offshore wind energy investment and a new £2 billion Green Investment Bank, more investment has been announced for renewable energy as well as moves to ensure that Britain has the skilled green workforce it needs – including 2,500 apprenticeships in wind energy by 2017.
After the progress made at the Copenhagen Summit, the government has renewed calls for a legally binding international climate change treaty. Labour are in favour of building on the strengths of the Kyoto Protocol, strengthening the UN decision making process to push through reforms, and pushing the EU to improve its plans to cut emissions.
In our manifesto, we are pledging to expand renewable energy so that 40 per cent of electricity comes from low-carbon sources by 2020 and create 400,000 new green jobs by 2015. We will also move towards a ‘zero waste’ Britain by banning recyclable and biodegradable materials from landfill. Britain already has more offshore wind-power than any other country in the world, and our plans could see this increase by up to 40 times.
