31 March 2023

Responding to new data from the Environment Agency which show that there was a total of 301,091 sewage discharges in 2022, Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said:

“It is nothing short of a national scandal that our rivers should be treated in this way. There is simply no excuse for raw sewage to be spilled into rivers 824 times a day – especially in a year when most of the country faced a drought.

“The situation we currently have across the country where water companies can, almost with impunity, dump sewage into our rivers, waterways and coastal waters cannot go on. The Green Party wants to see a halt to all dividend payouts to shareholders until these companies sort their sewage out and ultimately for the water supply to be brought back into public ownership at the earliest practicable opportunity.

“After years of failing to invest adequately in infrastructure, the private monopoly model is broken with rivers facing an assault from all directions, made all the worse by inaction from the government.

“The water industry cannot continue to be rewarded for failure.”

ENDS

For more information or to arrange an interview contact the press office on press@greenparty.org.uk or call 0203 691 9401

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29 March 2023

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said:

“Detaining desperate people on boats, barges and disused military bases is the latest outrage in a calculated attempt by government to dehumanise asylum seekers as part of its election strategy.

“Together with the Illegal Immigration Bill that will cast adrift thousands of people seeking protection in this country, these proposals will cause real harm to already vulnerable people.

“The humane alternative is an asylum system that works. That is one with clear, open, safe and legal routes for applicants, quick and efficient determinations and support for resettlement into local communities with properly funded local services.”

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28 March 2023

The Green Party has warned the UK government that a net zero strategy which offers a boost to fossil fuels would be a “grave betrayal” of its citizens and future generations, amid reports that its planned “green day” this week could include more support for oil and gas [1]. 

As the government prepares to announce its revamped net zero strategy on Thursday, the Greens have urged Grant Shapps, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, to choose the policies that will bring the most benefit to households across the UK as well as to the environment.

Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said:

“The government this week has an opportunity to introduce measures that will create a win-win for our environment and the economy at large. 

“Instead, we are hearing reports that what should be a boost for households across the country, in the shape of cheaper, cleaner energy and a reduction in emissions, will instead be a boost for the climate-wrecking fossil fuel industry.

“If what we fear is correct, this will be a grave betrayal of households up and down the country who want cheap, clean energy that doesn’t cost the earth, as well as future generations who will wonder why more wasn’t done to tackle the climate crisis when we had the opportunity to do so.”

The Greens have called on the government to:

• Introduce a carbon tax targeting the biggest polluters to provide funding for a mass insulation programme and renewable energy revolution to cut domestic energy bills and reduce emissions
• Invest £25 billion a year for ten years to carry out deep retrofitting of ten million homes and provide insulation improvements for every home that needs it. 
• Invest £12 billion a year for ten years on rolling out renewable energy including:

• Paving the way for 70% of the UK’s electricity to come from wind power by lifting the de facto onshore ban and introducing new support and incentives to accelerate wind energy development
• Introducing new support for solar geothermal, tidal, hydro and other renewables to provide much of the rest

 Ramsay said:

 “Any claim from the government that burning ever more fossil fuels from the North Sea will help the UK meet its international obligations to become net zero by 2050 [2] has no connection to reality.

 “Just last week, the latest IPCC report painted a grim picture of the future of action to tackle the climate crisis isn’t taken immediately. [2]

 “The UK government, along with governments around the world, has an increasingly small window of opportunity to secure a sustainable future for all and limit global temperature rise.

 “But with the recent announcements in the Spring Budget and reports that its own ‘green day’ has been watered down, this government continues to stick its head in the sand at everybody’s cost. 

 “There are huge benefits to be made if the government puts the right policies in place now. For example, the UK is seriously behind other European countries when it comes to installing heat pumps. However, new research has shown that we could reduce our gas imports by half if we installed them at the same rate as Finland [3]. If the government put the right long-term policy measures in place now, then we could see this sort of reward very soon.

 “The government has a chance to achieve a win-win this week, but it looks like they’re going for a lose-lose-lose which will be bad for the economy, bad for our pockets and bad for the climate.”

 Notes

1. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/24/uk-government-launch-revamped-net-zero-strategy-oil-gas-capital-aberdeen

2. https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2023/03/20/green-party-response-to-ipcc-synthesis-report/

3. https://eciu.net/media/press-releases/2023/gas-imports-could-be-halved-in-ten-years-if-uk-matched-finland-on-heat-pumps

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20 March 2023

Responding to the The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Synthesis Report [1], Adrian Ramsay, co-leader of the Green Party, said:

“The IPCC paints a grim picture of the future if action to tackle the climate emergency isn’t taken immediately. They point to a small window of opportunity that governments still have to secure a liveable, sustainable future for all and limit the global temperature rise to 1.5C. 

“This report should be a loud alarm bell for the UK government, but it seems they’re just not listening. The Spring budget shows the Tories are asleep at the wheel when it comes to the climate crisis. Instead of investment in public transport and active travel, we got a fuel duty freeze; rather than meaningful investment in abundant and affordable renewables such as onshore and offshore wind, tidal and solar, we got the promise of expensive nuclear which will take over a decade to come on stream. And still no end in sight to the granting of licences for further fossil fuel exploitation or a carbon tax to make polluters pay for the damage they cause to our environment.

“The IPCC calls for action on climate change that also provides wider benefits. Greens have long argued that actions such as insulating homes, putting in place infrastructure to boost walking and cycling and a move towards a more plant based diet can all have positive impacts on health and address the cost of living crisis.” 

Notes

1. Scientists deliver ‘final warning’ on climate crisis: act now or it’s too late

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15 March 2023

• Spring Budget relies on unproven technologies to tackle climate emergency rather than practical, Green solutions

• Chancellor fails to give public sector workers a pay rise that matches inflation, a pay rise that they deserve. 

• Carla Denyer: “Only the Green Party offers the economic policies that prioritise health and wellbeing and the protection of our environment over unfettered economic growth.”

Responding to the Chancellor’s Spring Statement today [Wednesday 15 March], Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said: 

“This is yet another Conservative budget that fails to address the climate emergency or the crisis facing our public services. 

“Proven and effective measures to tackle the climate crisis were glaringly absent. Rather than a nationwide insulation programme, that would not only tackle greenhouse gas emissions but also keep people warm and reduce their energy bills, we get big bucks thrown at technological fixes like carbon capture and storage which isn’t commercially viable and runs the risk of allowing polluters a free pass. 

“And instead of meaningful investment in abundant and affordable renewables such as onshore and offshore wind, tidal and solar, we get expensive nuclear which will take many years to come on stream.

“The chancellor delivered his statement as thousands of workers walked out on strike over pay and conditions, quite rightly saying enough is enough. Jeremy Hunt failed to step up to the plate and give public sector workers a pay rise that matches inflation; the pay rise that they deserve. 

“This was presented as a budget for growth. But we know from past experience that an obsessive focus on economic growth enriches the few, impoverishes many and wrecks our climate while trashing the natural world. This business as usual approach certainly does result in growth – growth in air pollution; growth in sewage discharges into our waterways and coastline and growth in inequality.

“The sort of growth the Tories have in mind is revealed by their plans to create 12 new Investment Zones across England. Such zones will provide opportunities for tax avoidance by the wealthy, pit communities against each other – with those outside the zones subsidising services for people inside them – and undercut environmental standards.

“There were welcome incentives for small and medium sized enterprises to invest in research and development but where were the incentives to support businesses to green their operations, especially energy intensive industries?

“Only the Green Party offers the economic policies that prioritise health and wellbeing and the protection of our environment over unfettered economic growth. That is why our demands focus on restoring public services – especially our health service – and paying public sector workers properly; offering cheap or free public transport for all and measures to help businesses and communities reap the rewards of a move to a green economy.”

Ahead of today’s budget, the Green Party called on the Chancellor to include [1]:

• 35 hours a week of free childcare for all, from the age of nine months

• A £1 single fare on all bus routes across England with free bus travel for young people, combined with major investment in buses and services and to ensure buses work for people, rather than the profit of large companies.

• Meeting the demands of public sector workers for a pay rise that matches inflation, to help regenerate our economy and restore our public services

• Stimulating green industries and reducing the cost of energy, by offering tax incentives to businesses investing in the green economy and changing planning laws to encourage community-owned renewables. 

Notes

1. https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2023/03/14/greens-set-out-fairer,-greener-plan-for-economy-ahead-of-spring-budget/ 

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