The government has committed to a legally binding net zero greenhouse gas emissions target by 2050, and promised to leave the environment in a better state for the next generation. However, ministers are currently seriously off track to actually delivering on these promises. In a climate and nature emergency, what really matters is action, not just words.
The government needs to put its money where its mouth is and invest now to help deliver the solutions we urgently need if we are serious about tackling this climate emergency. As outlined in Greenpeace’s climate manifesto, our buildings need to be insulated, our transport systems need to be electrified, our forests and oceans need to be protected and restored, and there needs to be support for workers and communities to transition to cleaner jobs. But these things can only happen if we properly invest the funds to do that.
Greenpeace has worked closely with CAFOD, Friends of the Earth, Green Alliance, Islamic Relief, the National Federation of Women’s Institutes, the RSPB and WWF to calculate how much money is needed to deliver these solutions and get us on track to a greener and fairer economy. The groups have estimated that public spending on climate and the environment needs to be doubled, which means we need to see an investment of at least £42 billion per year over the next three years.