Climate Crisis Crossroads: A Surreal Standstill or Green Revolution Ahead?
It is mind-blowingly surreal to see not just the current UK government, but also their opposition waver in their commitment to push forward with critical climate change legislation, including the already agreed ban on new ICE vehicle sales from 2030.
Are they truly not seeing the catastrophic results of climate change occurring across the globe right now, including the “heat dome” across a lot of the US, the deadly Cerberus heatwave across southern Europe, cataclysmic forest fires in Rhodes and the highest ever recorded ocean temperatures in Florida? We have already just experienced the hottest 8 years on record and 2023 is well on course to top them all.
PM Rishi Sunak says he wants to tackle the climate crisis, but wants to “ensure that this approach is proportionate and pragmatic and doesn’t unfairly impact the public”.
Climate disaster, propelled by our prolonged addiction to fossil fuels, will unfairly impact everybody!
Also, if he is being “pragmatic”, the one thing industry, business and the markets hate is uncertainty, and this apparent uncertainty regarding the date of the unavoidable ban on fossil fuel burning vehicles is throwing a massive spanner in the works just as manufacturers and infrastructure providers were accelerating progress towards meeting the deadline.
The UK is right on the cusp of either “building back greener” and forging a successful new green industrial revolution, or forever falling behind other nations who are fully committed to investing in and profiting from net zero policies.
Political parties need to be united in their commitment to look beyond short termism and electioneering and embrace the long-term policies that will ensure both the UK population’s wellbeing and financial future.
EVs are not going to ensure our journey to net zero by themselves, but with new vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capabilities, the imminent launch of solid-state batteries etc, they are an absolutely critical factor and their wider adoption needs the government’s full and unwavering support.
Practical (one might say, “pragmatic”) steps need to include:
Cohesive, centralised policy on the expansion of charging infrastructure with reliability and smart live status being a priority
Reduction in VAT on public chargers from 20% down to the 5% payable on domestic charging
Support and incentives for building battery “gigafactories” in the UK to ensure supply to UK EV manufacturers
Firm and unequivocal adherence to the 2030 ban on sale of new ICE light vehicles
Now is the time to double down on net zero policies, not waver, and the government needs to do all it can to encourage and incentivise investment in our cleaner, greener future.
