A number of Labour councils have pledged to eliminate all carbon emissions in their areas by 2050 in a move that will build pressure on the Government’s commitment to green energy.
The agreement was coordinated by shadow energy and climate change secretary Lisa Nandy and has seen council leaders from some of Britain’s major cities, such as Edinburgh, Manchester, Newcastle, and Liverpool agree to adopt green energy sources as an alternative to carbon-emitting technologies.
According to The Guardian, more than 50 Labour-run councils have agreed to the promise, which will see them move towards green transport, an end to gas heating and a programme of mass insulation of homes across the UK.
The pledge says: “We have the ambition of making all our towns and cities across the UK 100% clean before 2050, in line with the commitments made nationally and internationally at the Paris summit.
“We hope other towns and cities across the globe will join us to demonstrate that this transition will happen through acts of leadership by the many, not the few, and that a transition to a clean energy future is both viable and already beginning to happen in many towns and cities today. Our UK towns and cities are committed to making a better future for all.”
The agreement comes just a week ahead of the beginning of the COP21 Climate Change Summit in Paris on November 30 and follows a number of councils in London, such as Southwalk, Lambeth and Greenwich also agree to the target.
Nandy pointed to the ambition of Labour-led councils to eradicate carbon reductions at a time when the Government is abandoning a number of green policies, such as the Green Deal and zero carbon homes policy which were scrapping earlier this year.
She told The Guardian: “Where Labour is in power we will push for a clean energy boom even if the government will not. Ministers say they support devolution to our towns and cities so they should back these council leaders by ending their attack on the schemes that can help to make this safer, cleaner future a reality.”
Under the 2008 Climate Change Act, the UK is targeting an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050. According to Labour, the new pledge made by a number of its councils represents a 10% cut to the UK’s carbon footprint.
By David Pratt.