Reacting to Keir Starmer’s public address at COP29 where he announced a new climate target for the UK to reduce the country’s emissions by 81% by 2035 against 1990 levels, Green MP Ellie Chowns said:
“The announcement of an 81% cut in emissions by 2035 is welcome – we need to remove fossil fuels from our economy as rapidly as possible.
“However, the transition to clean energy needs to be matched by moves on energy reduction. We need a mass home insulation programme and large-scale investment in public transport and active travel. Instead, we have seen Labour downgrade the retrofitting of homes, fail to make solar panels on new builds mandatory, hike bus fares by 50% and offer only loose change for walking and cycling.
“Keir Starmer says he will not tell people how to live their lives, but he can put in place policies to support us to make changes that reduce emissions, cut bills and improve our health and wellbeing. This must involve every government department being laser focused on achieving our climate targets.”
