Each main UK party’s climate policies explained

Each party is offering big changes on the UK’s climate change strategy (Picture: Rex / Getty)

Issues like the cost of living have pushed climate change down the political agenda of late, with many voters concerned over the economy.

But surveys consistently find voters care strongly about the environment, with around half saying it’s one of the most important issues and nearly all agreeing it matters to some extent.

Around 4 in 10 say they’re more likely to vote for a party committed to strong action, while 3 in 10 want it to slow down and only 2 in 10 don’t care much either way, according to recent Ipsos polling.

All five leading UK parties are continuing to back the country’s net zero emissions target, except for climate sceptics Reform UK.

But they all have different ideas on how to how to achieve it, and what else needs to be done. Here’s an overview:

Labour’s environment commitments

Labour is pledging a big push on renewables and home energy efficiency (Picture: Getty)

‘The climate and nature crisis is the greatest long-term global challenge that we face.’

This is how the Labour party describes the problem in their policy documents, and here are its main policies:

Zero-carbon electricity system by 2030, achieved by doubling onshore wind by 2030, doubling insulation spending, tripling solar energy and quadrupling offshore wind

No new licences for North Sea oil drilling and coal mining; ‘ban fracking for good’.

Spend an extra £6.6 billion (double the current plans) on home energy efficiency improvements to ‘upgrade five million homes’.

Homes in the private rented sector will have to meet ‘minimum energy efficiency standards’ by 2030.

Unlike the Lib Dems and Greens, and like the Tories, Labour does not plan to change the UK’s commitment to bring the UK’s net carbon emissions to zero.

However it is promising to bring the British power grid’s net carbon impact to zero over the next half-decade, which is an ambitious change.

The party says funding for its green policies will be supported by increasing the windfall tax on oil and gas firms by 3 percentage points.

Introduced by the Tories in 2022 and currently set at 35%, the Energy Profits Levy raised £2.6 billion in its first year (when BP and Shell posted record earnings) so the rise will will likely bring in tens of millions more pounds at most.

Labour says more money will also be raised by ‘closing loopholes’ in the scheme, though its manifesto doesn’t provide specifics.

The party will also maintain the Ulez zone around London and says it will speed up the installation of new electric vehicle (EV) charging points.

Its other commitments include making the UK the ‘green finance capital of the world’ by requiring big companies and financiers to implement ‘credible transition plans that align with the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement’.

Labour will also ‘extend the lifetime’ of Britain’s nuclear plants and support the opening of new stations.

The party also pledges to ‘establish three new National Forests in England, whilst planting millions of trees and creating new woodlands’.

The Conservatives’ climate pledges

The Conservatives promise to ramp up renewables but have delayed climate targets while in office (Picture: Getty)

‘We are proud of our record and remain committed to delivering net-zero by 2050.’

This is how the Conservative manifesto describes its climate agenda, and here are the key policies:

Treble offshore wind capacity, build the UK’s first two carbon capture and storage clusters.

Invest £1.1 billion into the UK Green Industries and Growth Accelerator (more than doubling its funding) which supports manufacturers in becoming more energy efficient.

‘Rapidly expand nuclear power’, including a new power plant and two new fleets of reactors.

Introduce a new carbon pricing scheme to stop companies offshoring emissions by importing raw materials from companies with weak climate policies.

The Tories have overseen a significant shift toward renewable energy in the UK, although Rishi Sunak has eased a some commitments in recent months.

For example, he delayed the ban on new combustion engine vehicles from 2030 to 2035 and scrapped minimum efficiency standards for rented homes.

The Tory manifesto is pained to stress a ‘pragmatic’ approach to achieving net zero that ‘eases the burdens on working people’.

It stands apart from Labour mainly by sticking to the 2050 target, and also to continue licences for North Sea oil and gas production. The manifesto also does not mention that a new coal mine in Cumbria has been allowed to go ahead.

The Conservatives have also pledged to hold a parliamentary vote on the UK’s future climate strategy and ensure any changes to targets are firmly backed up with clear plans.

Reform UK’s stance on climate change

Reform wants to scrap any attempts to slow climate change and ‘adapt’ to it instead (Picture: Shutterstock)

‘Net-zero means reducing man made CO2 emissions to stop climate change. It can’t … We are better to adapt to warming, rather than pretend we can stop it.’

In stark contrast to all other main parties, Reform wants to scrap almost all green projects. These are the only new environment policies they propose:

More tree planting, more recycling and less single-use plastics

Fast-track ‘clean’ nuclear energy with new reactors

Incentivise clean synthetic fuel and tidal power; explore ‘clean coal mining’.

Nigel Farage’s party wants to completely rid the UK of its climate targets, all funding for renewable energy and ‘other related subsidies’.

It claims ditching net zero targets would save the Treasury £30 billion a year.

Reform’s manifesto also claims this would bring energy prices down, blaming renewables for a ‘huge’ rise in bills over the last 15 years.

UK energy prices were in fact steady until 2021, and economists widely agree the subsequent rise (which was also felt worldwide, even in countries with little renewables production) was sparked by the aftereffects of the Covid pandemic and worsened by the Ukraine war.

Reform wants to start offering ‘fast-track licences’ for North Sea gas and oil, and lift the ban on fracking with ‘test sites’ to be licenced over the next two years.

Reform is also promising to ‘incentivise ethical UK lithium mining for electric batteries’.

Plans are already under way to mine lithium in Cornwall, estimated to produce enough to meet two-thirds of Britain’s battery demand by 2030.

Subsidising more lithium mining in the UK would not necessarily make batteries cheaper, and a fall in battery prices would have little impact on carbon emissions if electricity continues to be generated using fossil fuels anyway, which is Reform’s plan.

The Liberal Democrats’ climate policies

The Lib Dems claim they can deliver faster climate action than Labour or the Tories (Picture: Getty)

‘Climate change is an existential threat … Urgent action is needed – in the UK and around the world – to achieve net-zero and avert catastrophe.’

This is how the Lib Dem manifesto kicks off its climate change and environment pledges, which it says are ‘at the heart of a new industrial strategy’

Bring forward the UK’s net zero target from 2050 to 2045

Raise the proportion of UK electricity generated by renewables to 90% by 2030

‘Emergency upgrade programme’ for home efficiency, including free insulation and heat pumps for low-income households.

‘Rooftop solar revolution’ including help for people to install solar panels and a guaranteed price for selling excess power back to the grid.

A new Clean Air Act, enforced by a new Air Quality Agency, to tackle air pollution, and new legal

Ed Davey’s party are also promising funding for a number of climate-oriented schemes, such as education programmes, tree-planting and energy storage systems.

Unlike Labour and the Tories, there are no firm commitments as to how much will be spent on climate-related schemes.

They have promised an additional one-off ‘proper’ windfall tax on oil and gas producers, and a ‘sewage tax’ on water companies, but there is no detail on the numbers involved either.

The Lib Dem manifesto also makes no mention of whether the party would renew North Sea oil licences – a key dividing line between Labour and the Conservatives – though it does pledge to ban new coal mines.

They will also ‘immediately’ require all new buildings to be ‘build to zero-carbon standard’, including fitted solar panels. Existing rental properties would have to be upgraded to energy efficiency rating C or above by 2028.

The Lib Dems also say they’ll set up a new Sustainability department in the Treasury to ‘ensure the economy is sustainable’, and a Net Zero Delivery Authority to ‘coordinate action across government departments’.

They also pledged to ‘hand more powers and resources to local councils for local net zero strategies’.

It’s not clear how this would work: only some councils have set their own net zero targets (there is no overall strategy for councils to take part) and none of them are legally binding like the national government target is.

The party also says it will set up citizens’ assemblies to ‘give people real involvement in the decisions needed to tackle climate change’, though it’s not clear what decisions will be put before the public or how their input will be used.

The Green Party’s environment pledges

The Green Party are promising huge spending increases and tax rises (Picture: Getty)

‘We can create a greener, fairer country together – one in which we are all safer, happier and more fulfilled.’

That’s how the Green Party introduce their manifesto, and unsurprisingly it’s full of commitments to ‘greener’ government in all areas. Here are the key policies:

Accelerate the UK’s net zero deadline to 2040, mainly by rapidly ramping up wind production

Spend £40 billion a year in ‘shifting to a green economy’, supported by a carbon tax on the use of fossil fuels

Stop all new licences for oil and gas extraction and cancel recent ones granted for major North Sea projects.

Hand ownership of ‘energy sources’ to their local communities

Scrap the UK’s nuclear power production, phasing it out over the coming years

The Green Party’s net zero deadline is the closest and its spending promises are the most ambitious of the main parties.

It’s not clear how the carbon tax would be levied but the party claims it will raise ‘up to’ £8 billion a year over the next decade.

The Green manifesto says wind should provide 70% of the UK’s electricity by 2030 – it currently accounts for less than 30%.

They want offshore wind capacity to be five times higher than current levels by 2035, and onshore wind to almost quadruple. They also want to increase solar power capacity by almost seven times in the same time.

Their net zero target will be made even tougher to achieve by the fact they want to scrap nuclear power, which generates around 15% of the UK’s electricity.

The cancellation of existing fossil fuel projects would also force the UK to import more energy from abroad (much of it derived from fossil fuels) until British renewables production is increased.

For example, the upcoming Rosebank oil field near Shetland, which would be axed, is estimated to account for around 8% of the UK’s oil production over the next half decade.

Whoever wins power will have to get more and more serious about meeting the UK’s net zero target as it’s been written into law – meaning the government can be sued for failing to meet it.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.