If the decisions the UK government makes in its upcoming spending review are not in line with the net zero climate target it risks being taken to court again, campaigners have said.
Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, will set out her spending review for the rest of this parliament on Wednesday. Amid continuing economic uncertainty and Labour’s promise to boost defence spending, many departments are facing deep cuts to dearly held commitments.
Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, has been fighting for the promised £13.2bn for home insulation to be protected, as experts and charities have warned that failing to insulate Britain’s draughty homes will undermine the restoration of winter fuel payments to many pensioners. There are also questions over the funds available for GB Energy, the publicly owned company that invests in green energy, and support for farming and for flood defences.
The campaign group Friends of the Earth, which successfully took the last Conservative government to court over its net zero plans, has said it will take legal action again if Reeves’s plans appear to fall short.
The high court ruled that the last government had failed to set out a credible plan to meet the legally binding target of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and ordered ministers to come up with a comprehensive plan on climate action. The duty now falls on Labour to publish it by 29 October.
Friends of the Earth has written a letter, seen by the Guardian, to Keir Starmer, reminding him of the high court’s demands, and warning that any major cuts by Reeves to programmes that boost clean energy or cut emissions could be subject to legal challenge in light of the ruling.
The group’s interim chief executive, Jamie Peters, said: “The decisions made as part of the [spending review] could significantly influence your government’s ability to comply with the court order.”
Mike Childs, Friends of the Earth’s head of science, policy and research, added: “The government has a legal duty to deliver on climate targets – no amount of political manoeuvring can change that. With the planet already warming to a dangerous degree, extreme weather costing lives and livelihoods, and the UK’s current and future prosperity hanging in the balance, Friends of the Earth will, if necessary, go to the high court to ensure the UK delivers on its legal obligations.”
Spending on climate measures now would reduce the cost of extreme weather – such as droughts, floods and storms – in the future, he added. “It’s imperative the chancellor does not sideline the future of the planet in her upcoming spending review.”
Reeves boosted public transport this week by announcing £15bn for trams, trains and buses outside London, which will come out of the £113bn earmarked for capital projects and infrastructure.
But there is no such guarantee over the future of the £13.2bn for home insulation. Ed Matthew, UK director at the climate change thinktank E3G, warned that if Labour failed to help people with the high costs of energy, by boosting renewables and insulating homes, it would give added impetus to the rightwing populist Reform party.
He said: “The Labour government has so far underplayed the importance of the green economy in sparking economic growth. This was mostly a result of No 10 attempting to appease potential Reform voters. But this strategy has backfired. Most of these voters love renewables because they bolster energy independence and can lower energy bills.”
He said Reeves would be missing a vital opportunity if she failed to invest in the green economy, which according to recent CBI research grew by 10% last year, three times the rate for the rest of the economy.
“Failing to centre the clean economy in their capital spending plans would be an act of economic self-harm and undermine their political fortunes,” said Matthew. “Reeves must now deliver the biggest boost to the clean economy in UK history at the spending review. It is green growth or bust.”
A government spokesperson said: “The clean energy mission is in the DNA of this government because it is the route to energy security, lower bills, and good jobs for our country. We are committed to meeting our ambitious targets, and we will publish a report setting out our plan to meet carbon budgets by October. Through our warm homes plan up to 300,000 households will benefit from upgrades this year, such as insulation, double glazing, solar and heat pumps, making them cheaper and cleaner to run.”
