* Green Party says first Autumn Budget since IPCC report must be an ‘emergency budget for the climate’
* Jonathan Bartley: “This is the Chancellor's clear opportunity to stop bankrolling climate destruction and invest in clean energy instead”
The Green Party has called on the Government to respond to the UN’s climate warning by making the Autumn Budget an “emergency budget for the climate”.
The party will call on the Government to immediately stop fracking and scrap the fracking slush fund, airport expansion and fossil fuel subsidies - and to invest in renewable energy instead.
On 8 October the UN’s IPCC report warned global governments have just 12 years to limit climate catastrophe [1]. Yet just a week later ministers allowed fracking to start in Lancashire, putting a sledgehammer through the UK’s climate targets. [2]
The Green Party wants the Government to:
* Immediately stop fracking and scrap the shale slush fund [3]
* End airport expansion and introduce a frequent flyer levy [4]
* Cancel Hinkley Point C nuclear station and invest in Swansea Tidal Lagoon instead [5]
* Reinstate the fuel duty escalator [6]
* Reverse the freezing of the carbon price-floor [7]
And end fossil fuel subsidies and invest in clean energy instead, starting with
* Fully reinstating the feed-in tariff to incentivise household solar [8] and keep the export tariff on new solar installations [9]
* Removing the block on community wind projects [10
* Launch a national programme of insulation and retrofitting to make every home warm [11]
Jonathan Bartley, co-leader of the Green Party, said:
“The last two Budgets failed to mention climate change. This is the Chancellor's clear opportunity to stop bankrolling climate destruction and reprogramme the economy so it works for all of us by investing in clean renewable energy.
“If the Government spends a single pound on climate wrecking projects the Autumn Budget will have failed.
“In the wake of the UN’s warning that we are on the brink of complete climate breakdown the Chancellor must deliver nothing short of an emergency Budget for the climate.”
Notes:
1. https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2018/10/08/caroline-lucas-responds-to-ipcc-report/
3. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-measures-to-back-british-shale-gas-exploration
5. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-44589083
7. https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN05927/SN05927.pdf
9. https://www.energylivenews.com/2018/10/18/is-removing-solar-tariff-literal-daylight-robbery/
11. https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2018/06/26/greens-rising-fuel-poverty-hitting-poorest-hardest/