The actions of the United Kingdom’s Conservative government are not in line with the commitments the nation made in the recently adopted Paris Agreement, the Labour party’s shadow secretary of state for energy and climate change, Lisa Nandy, wrote Monday in an editorial in the New Statesman.
“In recent months, in spite of the success of the UN talks and even as other major economies doubled down on their clean energy transitions, the Chancellor has made a series of decisions that have reversed our progress on the road to climate safety,” Nandy said.
The shadow secretary noted government funding for diesel generators and decreased funding for wind, solar, and home insulation. The government has also blocked the development of wind farms, Nandy charged, “even where they enjoy strong local support.”
While the decision was made before adoption the Paris Agreement, Nandy also took shots at the government’s decision to scrap a £1 billion carbon capture and storage commercialization competition, saying that in affected communities “scientists and engineers are reeling from the Chancellor’s decision.