Keir Starmer could drop Labour's 2030 net zero climate target

Labour could drop the ambitious 2030 climate crisis target it adopted under Jeremy Corbyn, the party’s new leadership has said.

A spokesperson for Keir Starmer said that he had supported the plans included in Labour’s last manifesto, but that the party had lost the election.

The Green New Deal policy adopted under the previous leadership included the aim of a path to net zero carbon by the year 2030, based largely on massive public investment in green technology.

The suggestion that the commitment could be dropped has prompted an outcry from MPs on the left of the party and concern among activists.

24 MPs from the left of the party, including Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell, and Diane Abbott, have written a letter endorsing the proposal, arguing that it amounts to “necessary and urgent action”.

They call on the party to remain committed to the 2030 target, a ban on fracking, public ownership of the energy sector, and other measures like welcoming climate refugees and green public transport.

Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said: “The last manifesto made a number of really important commitments on this, which Keir supported, but we lost the election and Labour lost five years in government to tackle climate change.

“The next manifesto, the next target, will be written in four or five years’ time and we’ll have to deal with the circumstances we are in then.”

Angus Satow, co-founder of Labour for a Green New Deal, which campaigned for the policy, said: “We strongly oppose the suggestion that Labour should abandon its vital, popular and groundbreaking climate programme because of our election defeat.

“With the Arctic on fire and unemployment soaring, the Green New Deal has never been more urgent. It’s not enough for Keir Starmer to delay this question until 2024 – he must fight for our programme, and our planet, now.”

The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says that the world must reach net zero carbon by 2050 if global warming is to be kept below 1.5C, an irreversible threshold over which climate disaster quickly intensifies.

But richer countries are expected to reach net zero faster to give more room for developing countries to grow. Finland has said it will go carbon neutral by 2035, and Sweden 2045.

The UK’s current target is 2050, in line with the IPCC’s deadline. It was enshrined into law by Theresa May and superceded a previous target introduced under Gordon Brown in 2008 of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.

Source: UK Politics - www.independent.co.uk