The new UK government has made a “vigorous” start on climate action but its approach has created policy gaps and potential political problems, according to a University of Manchester environmental politics expert.
‘Clean energy superpower – and climate action kryptonite’ is available to read on the Policy@Manchester website (Picture credit: Istock/glegorly)
In a new article published by Policy@Manchester, Professor Matthew Paterson references a series of legislative initiatives already in progress including to create Great British Energy, reform the Crown Estate and promote the use of sustainable aviation fuel.
He continues: “Beyond legislation, the approval of new solar plants, rescinding the ban on onshore wind, expanding financing for renewable energy and announcing relaxation of planning rules for future renewable energy projects, all signify a more rapid start than most commentators anticipated.”
Professor Paterson explains that framing these measures as making the UK a ‘clean energy superpower’ entails two interconnected ways of focusing climate policy action.
“Firstly is the focus on energy security – an argument that enhanced climate action can also address the risks to the UK energy system made acute by Russia invading Ukraine,” he writes. “The rationale for aggressively pursuing renewable energy has been to show that it can detach UK energy prices from world natural gas prices and thus from the risks of global crises.”
He goes on: “Secondly, it is framed in terms of industrial innovation and investment. The creation of Great British Energy, but also reforms to the Crown Estate and the creation of the national wealth fund, all are driven by a concern about under-investment not only in (renewable) energy, but the economy more generally.”
The University of Manchester academic argues that this approach signifies the new government’s decision to integrate climate policy deeply into its overall political and economic strategy.
But, in his piece, he warns of several future challenges Ministers must face, including on the climate aspects of transport and the energy demand side within buildings, especially housing.
Professor Matthew Paterson
“The Warm Homes Plan was an integral element of the overall strategy in the manifesto,” Professor Paterson remind readers. “This would involve noticeable investments (the manifesto mentioned £6.6bn over the life of the Parliament) in retrofitting housing to achieve energy demand reductions. Delivering climate policy benefits whilst addressing energy poverty and housing-related health inequalities. But this has been little mentioned since the election.”
He also highlights the vital role Great British Energy is set to play in generating investment in ‘clean energy,’ stimulating industrial innovation and creating jobs.
“Presently the UK imports the vast majority of renewable energy capacity – solar panels, wind turbines, EV batteries, and all the components involved in making those back to mining the key minerals involved,” he writes.
“‘Onshoring’ much more of this production could deliver huge economic benefits in terms of jobs and investment. But when the government talks about the details of what GBE will do, it focuses almost exclusively on the installation of renewable energy capacity – the wind turbines generating ‘clean’ electricity for the UK. This is crucial to keep emissions going down but limits economic benefits the UK could get from such a strategy that will make it sustainable in the face of political challenges.”
Concluding his article, Professor Paterson warns Ministers of the need to devise a strategy to counter the ongoing backlash against climate policy in the UK.
“While in recent years this has been focused on EVs, heat pumps and fracking, the looming tension is over expansion of electricity infrastructure,” he writes.
“The Conservative government had in fact already announced major investments in such infrastructure in early 2024. This is integral to the electrification of home heating, transport, and industry: electricity capacity is estimated to need to be triple current capacity to achieve this. Focusing more on reducing demand mitigates this problem by reducing overall energy consumption – but only to an extent. We have already seen an emerging backlash against this that the government will have to manage and respond to.”
‘Clean energy superpower – and climate action kryptonite’ by Professor Matthew Paterson is available to read on the Policy@Manchester website.