Last week, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Rebecca Long-Bailey launched Labour’s ‘Thirty by 2030’ report – a detailed, comprehensive fast-track plan to decarbonise the UK’s electricity and heating systems by the 2030s.
Labour deserves major recognition for this report. While the UK’s other major political parties remain committed to piecemeal climate platforms which risk potentially disastrous consequences and do nothing to confront the underlying class dynamics driving climate breakdown, in this report Labour set out an ambitious, credible and appealing vision for rapid decarbonisation that is centered on justice for workers.
Taken together, the report’s 30 recommendations, which include insulation upgrades for every home in the UK, the installation of eight million heat pumps and the construction of enough new solar panels to cover 22,000 football pitches, represent climate policy formulated at a scale rarely – if ever – seen in the UK. As we enter a general election campaign, this ambition and level of detail on climate is unmatched.
