Labour Party Manifesto
The Labour Party manifesto sets out an ambitious agenda centred around sustainability, net zero, climate change, and energy, aiming to position the UK as a global leader in clean energy by 2030.
Finance
Labour plans to require UK-regulated financial institutions, including banks, asset managers, pension funds, insurers, and FTSE 100 companies, to create and implement credible transition plans. These plans must align with the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
Clean Energy Superpower
Labour aims to make the UK a leader in clean energy by 2030. This includes cutting bills, creating jobs, and ensuring energy security with cheaper, zero-carbon electricity. They plan to accelerate the transition to net zero, significantly boosting renewable energy sources like wind, solar, and nuclear. The focus is on making renewable energy more accessible and cost-effective, ensuring a reliable energy supply, and positioning the UK at the forefront of the global clean energy market.
National Wealth Fund
The manifesto proposes establishing a National Wealth Fund, capitalised with £7.3 billion, to support growth and clean energy initiatives. This fund will target investments in upgrading ports for wind turbine production, building gigafactories for electric vehicle batteries, revamping the steel industry to make it more sustainable, accelerating carbon capture and storage deployment, and supporting green hydrogen manufacturing. These investments aim to stimulate economic growth, create high-quality jobs, and drive the UK’s transition to a green economy.
Environmental Infrastructure
Labour plans a ten-year infrastructure strategy aligned with industrial and regional development priorities. This strategy includes enhancing rail connectivity, developing new roads and reservoirs, and ensuring comprehensive gigabit broadband and 5G coverage by 2030. The plan focuses on creating a resilient infrastructure that supports economic growth, reduces environmental impact, and improves connectivity across the UK. This approach aims to create resilient infrastructure that supports economic growth, reduces environmental impact, and improves connectivity across the UK
Transport and Electric Vehicles
Labour will support the transition to electric vehicles by rolling out charging points and reinstating the 2030 phase-out date for new internal combustion engine cars. They also plan to bring railways into public ownership, promoting integrated transport systems managed by local leaders to improve efficiency and accessibility. This approach aims to reduce emissions from transport, make public transport more reliable, and encourage the adoption of electric vehicles.
International Collaboration
Labour plans to establish a new Clean Power Alliance, uniting leading countries in climate action. This initiative aims to reduce energy costs, expedite the shift to renewable energy, and safeguard and bolster clean energy supply chains. They would like to make the UK “the Green capital of the world”.
Sustainable Aviation
The manifesto includes promoting sustainable aviation fuels and modernising airspace to secure the long-term future of the UK aviation industry
Overall, Labour’s manifesto reflects a mission-driven approach focused on long-term, measurable objectives to rebuild the UK sustainably and innovatively. The success of these plans will depend heavily on creating the right investment frameworks, securing private sector collaboration, and ensuring consistent policy support to meet the ambitious targets set for 2030.
Conservative Party Manifesto
The Conservative manifesto emphasises a “pragmatic and proportionate approach” to achieving net zero by 2050, focusing on easing burdens on working people and ensuring a fair transition. This includes avoiding mandatory replacements of boilers with heat pumps and investing £6 billion over the next three years to enhance energy efficiency in homes
Legislative and Policy Framework
The Conservatives guarantee a vote in the next Parliament on the next stage of the net zero pathway to ensure democratic consent for significant decisions. They plan to reform the Climate Change Committee to explicitly consider household costs and UK energy security in its future climate advice.
Carbon Pricing and Industrial Support
The manifesto includes implementing a new import carbon pricing mechanism by 2027 to ensure imports from countries with lower or no carbon price face a comparable carbon price to UK-produced goods, preventing the displacement of industry to countries not taking climate action. They strongly support domestic steel production with a £500 million grant for Tata Steel’s Port Talbot works, as part of a larger commitment to secure a sustainable future for the steel industry.
Energy Security and Infrastructure
The Conservatives propose annual licensing rounds for North Sea oil and gas production to protect jobs and ensure energy security. They also aim to scale up nuclear power by approving two new fleets of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) within the first 100 days of the next Parliament and delivering new gigawatt power plants
Energy Efficiency: Cost Reduction and Consumer Protection
The manifesto commits to maintaining the energy price cap to protect households from overcharging and reviewing standing charges to keep them low. They plan to introduce more efficient local markets for electricity, giving households the choice of smart energy tariffs, which can significantly reduce energy bills. The Conservatives pledge to invest £6 billion in energy efficiency over the next three years to make around a million homes warmer. Additionally, they will fund an energy efficiency voucher scheme for households to support the installation of energy efficiency measures and solar panels.
Green Levies and Taxes
The Conservatives aim to ensure that green levies on household bills are lower and rule out the creation of further green levies. This includes ruling out road pricing schemes and any frequent flyer levy.
Procurement
Implementing an integrated procurement model to streamline defence acquisition processes and ensure that Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors align with investments in the defence sector is part of the Conservatives’ Manifesto.
Overall, the Conservative Party’s manifesto focuses on a pragmatic approach to achieving net zero, and while there are some positive measures, it lacks ambition compared to international standards and the urgency of the climate crisis.
Liberal Democrat Manifesto
The Liberal Democrat manifesto ranks climate change as their third priority, pledging to “make tackling climate change central to a new industrial strategy.”
Finance
The Liberal Democrats propose that all large companies listed on UK stock exchanges must set and report on targets for achieving net zero emissions. Additionally, they plan to regulate financial services to promote climate-friendly investments and require pension funds and managers to demonstrate that their portfolio investments align with the goals of the Paris Agreement. The party plans to introduce new powers for regulators to intervene if banks and other investors fail to properly manage climate risk.
Climate Change and Energy
The manifesto pledges to cut GHG emissions to net zero by 2045 and invest ‘significantly’ in renewable power, aiming for 80% renewables by 2030 for UK energy.
Housing & Local Government
The Liberal Democrat manifesto pledges free retrofits for low-income homes and generous tax incentives for other households to reduce energy consumption, emissions, fuel bills and reliance on gas and help to end fuel poverty. They pledge to improve standards for new homes to ensure they are warm, cheap to heat and produce zero emissions. They also wish to give local authorities a key role to cut emissions in their own area, including more powers and funding.
Procurement
The Liberal Democrats would expand the market for climate-friendly products and services with steadily higher criteria within a public procurement policy.
Net Zero
Restructure national and local government to deliver net zero by creating a Net Zero Delivery Authority and strengthening the powers and resources of local authorities to cut emissions in their area, and promote community energy, including requiring all new homes to be fitted with solar panels. Moreover, they state they wish to ensure that the UK’s net zero commitments are at the forefront of any international trade agreement.
Nature, Agriculture & Biodiversity
They pledge to plant at least £60 million trees a year to help reach net zero and restore woodland habitats and increase the use of sustainable wood in construction.
The Liberal Democrats want to set ‘meaningful and binding’ targets to stop the nature decline and double nature by 2050, doubling the size of the Protected Area Network, doubling the area of most important wildlife habitats and doubling the abundance of species. In addition, they wish to strengthen the Office for Environmental Protection and providing more funding to the Environment Agency and Natural England to help protect our environment. The Liberal Democrats plan to uphold UK backing for the UN loss and damage fund and establish a new environmental duty of care. They aim to enact an Environmental Rights Act to safeguard at least 30% of land and sea areas by 2030 for biodiversity restoration.
To combat ‘greenwashing’, they propose new standards for blue carbon and soil carbon, alongside international collaborations to combat global deforestation. The party also intends to cooperate with European allies to address the biodiversity crisis, including seeking membership in the European Environment Agency.
Transport
The Liberal Democrats pledge to extend and complete the electrification of Britain’s rail network, improve stations, reopen smaller stations and restore twin-track lines to major routes. They also wish to enable and encourage people to switch to electric vehicles with more charging infrastructure supported by changing local grid capacity, a reduction in VAT on electric vehicles to 5%, and a requirement that every new car and small van sold from 2030 produces zero emissions.
Legislatively, they state they will pass a Clean Air Act, based on World Health Organization guidelines, enforced by a new Air Quality Agency and create new cycling and walking networks separate from motorised traffic.
Other
The Liberal Democrats pledge to make pensions green by requiring funds to comply with the climate goals in the Paris Agreement.
Plaid Cymru Manifesto
Plaid Cymru manifesto states that the party aims to spearhead a Green Industrial Revolution, positioning Wales at the forefront of the green economy. Their strategy includes generating 100% of Wales’ electricity from renewable sources by 2035, focusing on wind, solar, and marine energy. The manifesto emphasises job creation in the green sector, projecting up to 60,000 new jobs through investments in renewable energy infrastructure and technology.
Sustainable Housing
The party commits to building 50,000 new homes over the next five years, with a strong focus on sustainability. These homes will be built to high energy-efficiency standards, utilising green technologies such as solar panels and heat pumps. Plaid Cymru plans to retrofit existing housing stock to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions, aiming for all homes to meet net zero standards by 2030.
Public Transport and Active Travel
Plaid Cymru prioritises investment in public transport to reduce reliance on cars. They propose electrifying rail lines, expanding bus networks, and promoting cycling and walking through dedicated infrastructure. By 2030, they aim to phase out petrol and diesel cars, supporting the transition to electric vehicles with extensive charging infrastructure.
Biodiversity and Nature
The manifesto includes a comprehensive plan for biodiversity, pledging to protect and enhance natural habitats. Plaid Cymru supports large-scale reforestation projects and the creation of new green spaces to absorb carbon and improve biodiversity. They advocate for sustainable farming practices and the reduction of pesticide use to protect wildlife.
Circular Economy
Plaid Cymru promotes a circular economy, focusing on reducing waste and increasing recycling rates. They plan to implement policies that encourage businesses to design products with longer lifespans and higher recyclability. The manifesto also supports community-led recycling initiatives and aims to eliminate single-use plastics by 2025.
Food and Agriculture
The party emphasises sustainable agriculture, supporting local food production and reducing the carbon footprint of food supply chains. They plan to invest in organic farming and promote plant-based diets to lower environmental impact. Plaid Cymru also aim to improve food security through community-supported agriculture and urban farming projects.
These initiatives highlight Plaid Cymru’s commitment to environmental sustainability and their vision for a greener, more resilient Wales, aiming to balance economic growth with the urgent need to address climate change.
Green Party Manifesto
The Green Party manifesto states that the party commits to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2030 through a comprehensive Green New Deal. This includes meeting most energy needs with domestically produced renewable energy, focusing on wind, solar, and tidal power. They aim to reduce energy bills, create jobs, and ensure energy security.
Finance
The Green Party proposes substantial financial investments to support their proposed initiatives. They aim to allocate £100 billion annually to climate action and environmental protection, ensuring sufficient resources are available to meet their ambitious targets.
Sustainable Housing
The party plans to invest significantly in sustainable housing, ensuring all new homes are built to zero-carbon standards and retrofitting existing homes for energy efficiency. This includes specific targets to improve insulation and heating systems to reduce overall energy consumption and carbon emissions from the housing sector.
Sustainable Transport
The Green Party plans to invest in public transport, cycling, and walking infrastructure, reducing reliance on cars. They propose a ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030 and the expansion of electric vehicle infrastructure.
Nature and Biodiversity
They advocate for the restoration of natural habitats and reforestation to absorb carbon and support biodiversity. The Green Party supports creating green spaces and protecting wildlife corridors.
Circular Economy
Aiming to reduce waste, the Green Party promotes a circular economy with a focus on reducing, reusing, and recycling materials. They plan to implement policies that minimise waste production and encourage sustainable consumption.
Food and Agriculture
The manifesto emphasises transitioning to sustainable farming practices, reducing chemical use, and supporting local food production. They aim to enhance food security and reduce the environmental impact of agriculture.
Overall, these initiatives reflect the Green Party’s commitment to climate action and sustainability, aiming for a just transition to a green economy and a resilient environment
Scottish National Party (SNP) Manifesto
The SNP manifesto has outlined several key sustainability initiatives focusing on environmental protection, green energy, and sustainable economic growth. The SNP aims to significantly cut carbon emissions, setting an ambitious target of reducing emissions by 75% by 2030. This commitment aligns with Scotland’s contribution to the Paris Agreement, emphasizing the country’s leadership in climate action.
Energy & Renewables
A major focus is on expanding renewable energy capacity. The SNP plans to develop at least 5GW of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030. This is part of a broader strategy to transition to a green economy and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. The SNP also plans to modernise the Contracts for Difference scheme to enable the stable deployment of Scotland’s renewable energy pipeline
Transport
The manifesto includes measures to promote sustainable transport, such as investing in electric vehicle infrastructure and enhancing public transportation systems to reduce carbon footprints. This effort supports the broader goal of achieving net-zero emissions
Green Growth
The SNP pledges to tackle the twin crises of climate change and nature loss by combining emissions reductions and economic prosperity. It also states that there are economic opportunities of net zero. Following the election, the SNP pledges to bring forward an immediate emergency budget to reverse cuts to public spending and deliver meaningful investment in economic growth, with a particular emphasis on green energy. The manifesto demands the devolution of new borrowing powers to invest in a just transition and that the new UK Government match the £500m Just Transition Fund for the Northeast and Moray. The SNP would also introduce a lower rate of VAT for hospitality and tourism sectors, address the imbalance in VAT rates in the construction sector to encourage the refurbishment and retrofitting of existing buildings and remove VAT from on-street electric vehicle charging. It also requests the UK Government must invest at least £28bn a year in the green economy and as part of this investment, the UK Government should seek an equity stake in future energy projects.
Agriculture
The SNP wish to re-join the European Union which they claim will mean ‘more funding for farming, fishing and other rural sectors’ Despite numerous requests, the manifesto claims that Scotland has had no commitment from Westminster on any future funding for farming after 2025 and asks the UK Government to increase funding for farming – to at least pre-Brexit levels – and provide certainty through multi-annual funding frameworks. Given Scotland has over two thirds of the UK’s peatland, and currently plants over 60% of trees in the UK, the SNP claim funds restoration and planting should be supported by the UK Government. It wants Westminster to ensure ‘fair funding flows to devolved nations to enable our, and their, climate ambition given that for the whole of the UK to reach net zero by 2050, Scotland must do so by 2045.’
Reform UK Manifesto
Energy & Net Zero
The Reform UK manifesto pledges a radical set of policies rolling back on net zero which they claim ‘is pushing up bills’ and damaging British industries. They pledge they will scrap 6,700 retained EU laws, including those on Net Zero and the Environment.
They vow to cut energy taxes and lower fuel duty by 20p per litre for both residential and business users, scrap VAT on energy bills, scrap environmental levies and scrap related subsidies, claiming this could save the public sector £30bn per year for 25 years.
Reform pledge to start fast-track licences of North Sea gas and oil, grant shale gas licences on test sites for 2 years and enable major production when safety is proven, with local compensation schemes. Reform also express support for using nuclear energy with new Small Modular Reactors, built in Britain. Moreover, they pledge to increase and incentivise ethical UK lithium mining for electric batteries, combined cycle gas turbines, clean synthetic fuel, tidal power and explore clean coal mining.
Nature & Biodiversity
Reform propose protecting the environment by planting more trees, recycling more, using less single use plastics and using new technology. However, steps to protect the environment should not be taken at the expense of economic growth.
Agriculture
Scrap Climate-Related Farming Subsidies Productive land must be farmed, not be used for solar farms or rewilding. Replace current subsidies with direct payments. Stop Natural England from taking action that damages farmers. Reform also pledge to scrap Climate-Related Farming Subsidies and not use productive land for solar farms or rewilding, stop Natural England from taking action that damages farmers and encourage buying British food.
