The Shadow Energy Minister, Tom Greatrex, has announced that the next Labour Manifesto will deliver a commitment to decarbonise the UK economy by 2030. The party will also drive forward the offshore wind industry.
Mr Greatrex was speaking at last week’s RenewableUK annual Offshore Wind Conference in Manchester.
“Labour will continue to push for a 2030 target as it’s absolutely crucial to give the renewable energy sector for long term certainty” said the Shadow Energy Minister. “Today I can announce that that if we don't get that target set in the Energy Bill, it will be in Labour’s manifesto for the next General Election.”
The announcement was welcomed by Maria McCaffery, RenewableUK’s Chief Executive who commented: “This announcement by the Shadow Energy Minister at our conference is very welcome, as it demonstrates a clear commitment to clean up the way we generate electricity as early as possible. RenewableUK hopes that all political parties will appreciate the necessity for this, so that a cross-party consensus can be reached swiftly to set a 2030 decarbonisation target. This would send a strong signal to the wind, wave and tidal energy industries, and crucially to investors, to press ahead with projects as a matter of priority.”
An attempt to introduce an amendment to the Energy Bill setting a 2030 decarbonisation target was narrowly defeated in the House of Commons recently, although the government also said that it will revisit the issue in 2016 after the next election.
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