Labour pledge to tackle four key barriers in UK energy transition

May 12, 2024

Grid delays, planning delays, the ‘growing’ skills gap and supply chain problems will be rectified by the Labour party if it wins the next general election.

Speaking at Innovation Zero in London (May 1, 2024), Ed Miliband, shadow secretary of state for Climate Change and Net Zero, named these specific issues as the ‘four horsemen of the apocalypse’.

Specifically, Miliband said that achieving Labour’s policy of a net zero grid by 2030 would be impossible without addressing these issues and implementing collaboration across government departments and industry. Miliband accused the government of sending ‘mixed signals’ on its commitment to an energy transition, stating “uncertainty is the enemy of investment.”

He said that businesses and investors alike would benefit from clearer targets, and that Labour could offer ‘supportive’ decarbonisation policies and frameworks that could help improve direction and investment in the green economy. “The government has no plan, and because there is no plan, there is no forcing mechanism to drive the government to make decisions for the long-term interests of our country. That's one of the things we want to change,” Miliband told the Innovation Zero audience.

Labour said it could provide this clarity and investment through the creation of Great British Energy, a publicly owned energy company. “Great British Energy will partner with the private sector to unlock technologies like floating offshore wind. We will see further investment in ports for infrastructure and drive the biggest investment in home decarbonisation this country has ever seen,” said Miliband.

“If Labour is in power, this will be a whole government effort involving every department.” According to Labour’s policies, Great British Energy will invest in clean energy across the country, specifically floating offshore wind technology, as well as the supporting port infrastructure and the specialised job force needed alongside this. With this, Labour said it is committed to doubling Britain’s onshore wind capacity to 35GW, tripling solar power to 50GW, and quadrupling offshore wind with an ambition of 55GW by 2030.

Labour had previously pledged to spend £28bn a year on its green policies, though this number has since decreased to £23.7bn over the entire course of the next parliament, on top of the approximate £10bn per year already committed by government. “Net zero is the greatest economic opportunity of the 21st century,” concluded Miliband. “We offer consistency in a mission. There will be no more arbitrary policy decisions.”

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