Labour’s Warm Homes Plan, investing £6.6 billion on insulation and other home energy improvements, doubling the existing investment planned by government, is extremely welcome. The cheapest and most environmentally benign form of energy generation is that which is not needed by cutting energy waste.
It is also reassuring to see a clear commitment within the Labour manifesto to not issue any new oil and gas exploration licenses. This is in addition to commitments to not grant any new coal licenses and to a permanent ban on fracking. It is disappointing, however, that the Labour Party does not commit to revoking those oil and gas licenses issued during the last parliament which, if exploited, will damage our precious marine ecosystems and perpetuate our nation’s addiction to oil and gas – in contradiction to Labour’s stated aims.
The manifesto goes on to highlight the importance of tackling the interlinked climate and nature crises, and also adapting to the climate disruption we are already locked into.
Climate adaptation is an increasingly important tool in our fight against the climate crisis, better equipping us to cope with the negative impacts of flooding, droughts and heatwaves, and the role that nature-based solutions can play in climate adaption cannot be overestimated.
The Labour Party has clear ambitions to ‘get Britain building again’, outlining their plans for a 10-year infrastructure strategy that will involve new roads, railways, reservoirs and other major infrastructure projects.
For decades, development has been a significant driver of nature loss. In 2021, the Environment Act introduced a legal requirement for developers to ensure Biodiversity Net Gain. This means that developments must result in an increase, rather than a decrease, in nature. And it’s welcome that the Labour manifesto talks about 'building sustainable homes and creating places that increase climate resilience and promote nature recovery …without weakening environmental protections'.
But, major infrastructure projects are not subject to the legal requirements on Biodiversity Net Gain. If the Labour Party truly want to get Britain building again, whilst also tackling the nature crisis, they must commit to mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain across all developments on land and sea. Moreover, the Labour Party must provide greater detail on how it plans to double onshore wind, triple solar power and quadruple offshore wind by 2030 without sacrificing some of our most fragile ecosystems. We cannot solve one crisis at the expense of the other - both a Land Use Framework and effective marine spatial prioritisation will be key assets to any government working towards such a rapid expansion in renewable capacity.
Labour says it will 'champion British farming whilst protecting the environment' and 'will make environmental management schemes work for farmers and nature'. This is welcome, but there needs to be a deeper recognition that continuing to use any taxpayers money to subsidise those forms of industrial agriculture that damage nature is counter-productive: no nature, no food.
The Wildlife Trusts strongly supports Labour’s pledge to end the ineffective badger cull.
To read our summaries of the manifestos released by other major political parties in the run up to the 2024 General Election - and our earlier reaction to the Labour Party's nature plans - see here.