Keir Starmer accuses Boris Johnson of lacking ambition on the climate crisis – if only he would tell us what he plans to do instead

It’s no wonder that Extinction Rebellion activists are returning to the streets on 23 August, with non-opposition like this from Keir Starmer, writes Donnachadh McCarthy

Climate change protestors demonstrating in Parliament Square to mark 100 days until Cop26 on 23 July 2021 (AFP via Getty Images)

While the public is reeling from Monday’s stark IPCC report outlining how endangered our civilisation is by the climate crisis, we need to face up to the fact that our political leadership, in the face of the planet being ablaze from California to Sicily to Siberia, has utterly failed.

We have written many times about the failure of Boris Johnson’s government to act, as it expands oil, coal and gas fields and embarks on a massive road and airport building programme. Last week, Labour leader Keir Starmer wrote a column criticising Johnson’s failure to provide the necessary leadership in the run-up to the Cop26 climate summit in November, which the UK is hosting. This is now inarguably the most crucial conference in the history of humanity.

With Starmer accusing Johnson of lacking ambition, I looked to see what ambition Starmer was challenging the prime minister to emulate.

While carbon reduction targets are meaningless if there is no implementation, it is reasonable to compare the parties’ promises. The government has promised a 78 per cent cut in UK domestic emissions by 2035. This is one of the most ambitious in the world. Forgive me if I sound cynical, but Boris is also recognised as one of the world’s most accomplished untruth purveyors. So what is Starmer promising? He says that Labour would “cut the substantial majority of our emissions by the end of this decade”, but when asked by what exact percentage, he refused to specify. When we asked Labour if the government should go further than its 78 per cent cut by 2035, despite acknowledging our inquiry, we got no reply.

Starmer attacked the government for not laying out a clear net zero plan prior to Cop26. While it is true that the government has failed to publish a range of detailed sectoral decarbonisation plans, as promised, it has published a £12bn 10 point plan. It is incredibly weak and full of promises for the distant future, long after Boris Johnson will have ceased to be prime minister. But when Starmer was asked, on a visit to Glasgow earlier this month, what detailed plans Labour were proposing, he said that those would not be announced until nearer to the next general election – long after Cop26. He did advocate for a £30bn green jobs recovery plan, but without a timeline over which the money would be spent.

On transport, the government has launched a £27bn road expansion programme, with a puny £0.4bn programme for cycling. Labour did not reply to the question of whether they opposed the government’s road programme or whether they would match the £6bn per year that the UN says we should be spending on cycling by 2025.

Under the current government, 31 airports are undertaking massive expansion plans. Labour refused to say how many (if any) it opposed. During the pandemic, the government and Bank of England poured billions into bailing out the climate-destructive aviation industry. Labour repeatedly called on the government to pour even more money into the industry. They did not answer our question as to how this passed the “net zero and nature” test Starmer proposes for all policies.

There was no answer either as to whether they opposed the cuts the government is proposing for domestic and international air passenger duties. The government rejected the frequent flyer tax proposed by the Citizens Assembly but there was no word from Labour confirming that they would adopt it.

However, on one of the key issues facing the Cop26, Starmer edged slightly ahead of the Tories. He supported, in principle, the crucial International Energy Agency’s call for a moratorium on all new fossil fuel investments. The government, including Alok Sharma, the president of Cop26, has outright rejected this.

Whereas the IEA said that an immediate moratorium was needed in order for there to be a chance of reaching net zero by 2050, Starmer would not give a date. When we asked Labour if they supported a ban in 2022 or before 2030, 2050 or even 2100, and we also asked how any new oil or gas field could fit in with Labour’s new “net zero and nature” test, we again got no reply. As the IEA moratorium is the crucial minimum needed from Cop26, readers should consider emailing Starmer, asking him to grow a backbone and back the moratorium immediately.

To be fair to Starmer, Labour has opposed the new proposed Cumbrian coal mine and last week he did oppose the huge new Cambo oil and gas fields that the government is proposing to open near Shetland.

In an odd opening sentence in his column, Starmer wrote: “It used to be said of a good politician that they were able to make the weather.” But it seems the only weather Starmer wishes to make is a dull, grey day.

What we really need is a powerful political cyclone to wake the UK and the world from its terrifying slumber. It’s no wonder that Extinction Rebellion activists are returning to the streets on 23 August, with tepid non-opposition like this from Starmer. It is clear something is terribly wrong with British politics when activists must again make the weather on the climate emergency, in the face of the wholesale failure to lead by our elected politicians.