Climate ambition in a new parliament

Aldersgate Group’s Public Affairs Manager, Charlie Clegg, reflects on the result of the July election and the learnings from Aldersgate’s pre-election public event. 

Over half of all MPs – a record 335 – are new to the House of Commons. It’s clear that this general election has triggered a massive change in the political landscape. However, despite this change and the obvious challenges that climate change presents, one could hardly call this a “climate election” when assessing the substance of the debate. But, there was a broad acceptance of the need to accelerate progress on climate and nature, and ultimately, we saw Labour’s ambitious plans on this issue given a strong mandate by the public.

Since the election on 4 July, the new government has already set to work on ambitious targets, such as delivering clean power by 2030, and driving green growth across the UK. In this time of political change, we remain clear that accelerating efforts towards the UK’s climate targets must be done both with ambition and consistency. Here are some of the ways we will continue to support that work.

Our Programme for Government

While the timing of the election caught many off guard, the Aldersgate Group had already been presenting our Programme for Government, launched in April. This is a series of clear and deliverable steps an incumbent or incoming government could take straight away to help the UK reach net-zero, boost nature recovery, and drive economic growth.

Our programme presented a positive and forward-looking vision for a low-carbon Britain, demonstrating the vital benefits of taking an ambitious approach on this issue. We were delighted that many of its key points resonated, and appeared in the leading parties’ manifestos.

As an example, we called for expansion of public funding schemes – such as the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, and the Energy Company Obligation – to support energy efficiency and heating system upgrades. We were happy to see similar policies appear in the Labour, Conservative, Green, and Liberal Democrat manifestos.

Advancing the discussion

Ahead of the election the Aldersgate Group hosted Baroness Young of Old Scone, Lord Deben and Dr. Nina Skorupska CBE, outgoing Chief Executive of the Renewable Energy Association, to consider the next steps for climate and nature after the election. The Financial Times’ Pilita Clark chaired the discussion while our member Pinsent Masons kindly hosted.

This was a lively, detailed discussion where speakers showed both passion and expertise. The panellists agreed government must be transparent about the challenges of achieving climate targets. Lord Deben made a stirring call for attendees to contact their MPs about climate change to make sure it doesn’t fall off their agenda.

Engaging government and beyond

Faced with a new government, we are looking forward to engaging with new contacts in the political sphere, making the case for an ambitious approach on climate and environmental policy. Members of our team are already set to attend the main parties’ conferences, and we are going to take a thorough look at the new intake of MPs and advisors to ensure that we can support them to make the case for a prosperous net zero.

The manifesto on which the new Labour government received its mandate contains many measures on which we look forward to engaging. We have been pleased with those that reflect calls in our Programme for Government. These include the introduction of a Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard for the private rented sector. On other topics such as sustainable finance and nature, we would be grateful for more clarity from government than the manifesto provided.

We have also been pleased with Labour’s ambition on delivering clean power by 2030. The new government’s appointment of Chris Stark to lead this mission shows admirable commitment. Nevertheless, this remains a highly ambitious and challenging target. Achieving it will require continuous business input and support.

Despite promising signs overall, political polarisation on net zero remains a troubling prospect. Perhaps an advantage of the relatively light focus on climate during the election was that it didn’t really become a political football. As climate measures continue to come under scrutiny in parliament and the press, however, the threat of polarisation remains and could make delivery on climate even harder in the medium term.

We want to make a clear and positive economic and social case for net zero and nature to minimise this risk. Beyond Westminster, the new government has made clear its desire to empower local and devolved governments to deliver for their communities. This must include delivering a prosperous net zero economy and we are prepared to engage government at all levels to achieve this.

Looking ahead

We look forward to seeing how the forthcoming King’s Speech and budget set these plans in motion. Internationally, COP 29 represents an important opportunity for the UK to bolster its reputation as an international leader on net zero.

A new parliament with a large governing majority should be able to offer the policy consistency on climate the Aldersgate Group has been calling for. We do not recommend a radical reset but a refocussing on the ambitions both main parties have signed up to since 2019. The Aldersgate Group looks forward to this opportunity to represent its members calls for sustained ambition on climate in the coming years of this parliament.