Andrew Murday

What three key climate and nature issues/actions  would you influence for the benefit of the constituency?

Source: Action on Climate Emergency (ACE) Settle and Area

I have also been active locally with financial support, for local bus companies and interest groups, and in the council, trying to promote environmentally friendly active transport. In particular, our Lib Dem group successfully proposed a motion so that the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are to be incorporated into all North Yorkshire Council policies.

I have copied from our manifesto all the policies which we will be promoting both now during the election campaign and afterwards in Parliament:

Take the action needed now to achieve net zero by 2045, including:

• Meeting the UK’s commitment under the Paris Agreement to reduce emissions by at least 68% from 1990 levels by 2030.

• Requiring the National Infrastructure Commission to take fully into account the environmental implications of all national infrastructure decisions.

  
  

• Putting tackling climate change at the heart of a new industrial strategy, as set out in chapter 4.

• Investing in education and training to equip people with the skills needed for the low-carbon economy of the future, as set out in chapters 4 and 8.

• Ensuring that nature-based solutions, including tree planting, form a critical part of the UK’s strategy to tackle climate change, as set out in chapter 12.

• Putting our farming and food system on an environmentally sustainable footing, as set out in chapter 13.

• Making it cheaper and easier to switch to electric vehicles, restoring the requirement that every new car and small van sold from 2030 is zero-emission, investing in active travel and public transport, electrifying Britain’s railways, and reducing the climate impact of flying, as set out in chapter 16.

• Coordinating action across the UK by creating a Joint Climate Council of the Nations, as set out in chapter 20.

Cut energy bills and emissions, and end fuel poverty, by:

• Launching an emergency Home Energy Upgrade programme, with free insulation and heat pumps for low-income households and a central role for local authorities in delivering this programme.

  
  

• Providing incentives for installing heat pumps that cover the real costs.

• Immediately requiring all new homes and non-domestic buildings to be built to a zero-carbon standard, including being fitted with solar panels, and progressively increasing standards as technology improves.

• Reintroducing requirements for landlords to upgrade the energy efficiency of their properties to EPC C or above by 2028.

• Introducing a new subsidised Energy-Saving Homes scheme, with pilots to find the most effective combination of tax incentives, loans and grants, together with advice and support.

• Introducing a social tariff for the most vulnerable to provide targeted energy discounts for vulnerable households.

• Helping people with the cost of living and their energy bills by implementing a proper, one-off windfall tax on the super-profits of oil and gas producers and traders.

• Decoupling electricity prices from the wholesale gas price.

• Eliminating unfair regional differences in domestic energy bills.

Accelerate the deployment of renewable power and deliver energy security by:

• Removing the Conservatives’ unnecessary restrictions on new solar and wind power, and supporting investment and innovation in tidal and wave power in particular.

• Maintaining the ban on fracking and introducing a ban on new coal mines.

  
  

• Building the grid infrastructure required, facilitated by a strategic Land and Sea Use Framework as set out in chapter 15.

• Implementing the UK’s G7 pledge to end fossil fuel subsidies, while ensuring a just transition that values the skills and experience of people working in the oil and gas industry and provides good opportunities for them, and takes special care of the regions and communities most affected.

• Investing in energy storage, including green hydrogen, pumped storage and battery capability.

• Working together with our European neighbours to build a sustainable supply chain for renewable energy technology.

• Building more electricity interconnectors between the UK and other countries to guarantee security of supply, located carefully to avoid disruption to local communities and minimise environmental damage.

Support the expansion of community and decentralised energy, including:

• Empowering local authorities to develop local renewable electricity generation and storage strategies.

• Giving small low-carbon generators the right to export their electricity to an existing electricity supplier on fair terms.

• Requiring large energy suppliers to work with community schemes to sell the power they generate to local customers.

• Reducing access costs for grid connections.

• Reforming the energy network to permit local energy grids.

• Guaranteeing that community benefit funds receive a fair share of the wealth generated by local renewables infrastructure.

Restore the UK’s role as a global leader on climate change by:

• Restoring international development spending to 0.7% of national income, with tackling climate change a key priority for development spending.

• Showing leadership on the Paris Agreement by meeting the UK’s Nationally Determined Contribution and arguing for greater global ambition.

• Working together with our European neighbours to tackle the climate emergency, including by associating the UK Emissions Trading System with the EU ETS.

• Continuing the UK’s support for the UN Loss and Damage Fund for countries particularly vulnerable to the impact of climate change, to ensure a just transition for all.

• Pressing for all OECD countries to agree to end subsidies for foreign fossil fuel projects.

Hold businesses to account for their role in tackling climate change by:

• Introducing a general duty of care for the environment, as set out in chapter 4.

• Requiring all large companies listed on UK stock exchanges to set targets consistent with achieving the net zero goal, and to report on their progress.

• Regulating financial services to encourage climate-friendly investments, including requiring pension funds and managers to show that their portfolio investments are consistent with the Paris Agreement, and creating new powers for regulators to act if banks and other investors are not managing climate risks properly.

Support British industry to cut emissions by:

• Setting out a clear and stable roadmap to net zero, repairing the damage done by Conservative U-turns and giving businesses the confidence to invest.

• Expanding the market for climate-friendly products and services with steadily higher criteria in public procurement policy.

  
  

• Implementing the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism for high-emission products, protecting UK businesses from unfair competition.

• Reducing emissions from industrial processes by supporting carbon capture and storage and new low-carbon processes for cement and steel production.

• Providing more advice to companies on cutting emissions, supporting the development of regional industrial clusters for zero-carbon innovation and increasing the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund.