Green Recovery From The Coronavirus Pandemic

Dear constituent,

Thank you for contacting me about a green recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and the Comprehensive Spending Review. I agree with you on this important issue. While the status of the coming Spending Review is currently unclear, the decisions we as a country make in the coming months as we respond to the economic challenges of COVID-19 will nevertheless affect all of us for decades to come. It is therefore vital that we test every aspect of public spending against the goal of achieving net zero and delivering an economy that is healing the climate crisis rather than contributing to it.

The final report of Climate Assembly UK – the citizens’ assembly set up by six House of Commons Committees – makes clear that people from all walks of life want to see bold action and strong Government leadership to tackle the climate emergency. However, as the Committee on Climate Change’s most recent progress report highlights, the gulf between Government statements and actual climate action remains far too wide. Not only are Ministers set to miss the target that Parliament legislated for last year of reaching net zero emissions by 2050 – which is in any case too late for us to end our contribution to climate breakdown – they are not even on track to meet the less ambitious one that preceded it.

According to the UN, we have less than ten years left to avoid the worst impacts of catastrophic climate change. The Government must act with the urgency and ambition needed to match the scale of the challenge we are facing.

I believe we must seize the once-in-a-generation opportunity presented by the need to rebuild in the wake of the pandemic to rapidly decarbonise our economy through a Green New Deal. We must urgently transform how we power our homes, move around and use our land. We also need to ensure that this takes place through a just transition, with no community left behind, green jobs for the future and everyone able to enjoy the benefits of changing our economy and society for the better. In this way, I believe we can raise our domestic climate ambition and demonstrate real leadership as the host of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow next year.

Thank you once again for contacting me. I can assure you that I will continue to support calls for bold action on climate change and the environment at every opportunity.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Dowd MP