Keir Starmer climate targets cause UK gammon to burn to a crisp

  • Post last modified:November 12, 2024
  • Reading time:11 mins read


For goodness’s sake. It seems the Canary has got to do it again. Yes, we’ve got to come out and defend Keir Starmer’s Labour Party against far-right drivel. This time, it’s over his pledge at COP29 regarding the UK’s reduction in CO2 emissions. This is because Keir Starmer’s climate targets have sent gammon across the country wild.

Keir Starmer’s climate targets

As BBC News reported:

Keir Starmer has announced fresh climate change targets at a global summit, saying he wants the UK to lead on cutting emissions.

The UK will now aim for an 81% cut in its emissions by 2035, he told the UN conference of parties (COP29) in Azerbaijan.

This is known as a the UK’s nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) for carbon reduction. Some environmental groups welcomed the move by Starmer. Catherine Pettengell, Executive Director of Climate Action Network UK (CAN-UK) said:

This new UK government is signalling their intention to become a climate leader. While we would have liked to see even more ambition in today’s announcement, it is encouraging that the government actively sought and adopted the Climate Change Committee’s independent expert advice. This NDC is a signal of intent from a government only four months old – but more is needed to become a climate leader – particularly on the all important question of climate finance at this COP.

We need to see the full details in the NDC when it’s published, but with a robust delivery plan, an end to new fossil fuels, integration of the COP28 energy commitments, and alignment with the Global Biodiversity Framework this could be a solid first step to deliver for people, nature, and climate.

We welcome the prioritisation and whole-of-government approach demonstrated by the Foreign Secretary and Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero both here at COP29 alongside the Prime Minister.

However, not everyone was happy. Or rather, far-right gammon were positively foaming at the mouth.

It’s the IllUmInAtI wOt DiD iT

Wide Awake Media (no, we’re not sure who they are, either) summed up the ‘clown’ consensus among the Trump/Farage fanboys:

It’s the ‘COP29 Illuminati wot did it’, thinks this account – not realising that both the climate crisis and capitalists wanting to use geoengineering for their own benefit can both be true at the same time:

Kevin Edger (“pub and drink lover”, apparently) thinks the ‘gotcha’ is China – a country whose emissions have peaked and who is now the world’s biggest renewables producer:

The gammon herders from TalkTV also piled in:

With Julia Hartley-Brewer forgetting we already don’t have any industry thanks to Margaret Thatcher and the Tories:

Oh, and the Venn Diagram for TERFS, former Olympians, and far-right conspiracy theorists got even more interesting:

So, what’s the reality away from conspiracy drivel from the far-right?

The reality of Keir Starmer’s climate targets at COP29

Well, even right-wing, Murdoch owned the Times leapt to defend Starmer:

As Adam Vaughn pointed out, the Climate Change Committee is the one who Starmer is taking the lead off. In its report, there’s nothing remotely catastrophic. For example, it says:

  • Make electricity cheaper. Removing policy costs from electricity prices will support industrial electrification and ensure the lower running costs of heat pumps compared to fossil-fuel boilers are reflected in household bills.
  • Reverse recent policy rollbacks. Remove the exemption of 20% of households from the 2035 fossil-fuel boiler installation phase-out, address the gap left by removing obligations on landlords to improve the energy efficiency of rented homes and reinstate the 2030 phase-out of new fossil-fuel car and van sales. The damage of these rollbacks can be limited by quickly reinstating these policies.
  • Remove planning barriers for heat pumps, electric vehicle charge points and onshore wind.
  • Introduce a comprehensive programme for decarbonisation of public sector buildings.

Contrary to what conspiracy grifter James Melville tweeted, no where does the Climate Change Committee talk about 20% of us having to effectively go vegan in its current policy document Starmer is working off. It did talk about it separately last year – but as a recommendation, not some forced policy:

But if ‘Essex PR said it, it must be true – right?’

Spoiler: if that grifter said it, it’s bound to be false.

Plus, as Dave Jones (and the BBC to be fair) pointed out – this target is hardly new. It’s just Keir Starmer’s NDC has gone a little bit further than the Tories did – which is hardly a surprise:

Beware Labour shafting the poor in the process

So, all in all Starmer’s announcement was hardly earth-shattering – unless you’re the far-right. However, what we do have to be cautious about in this (quite correct) drive to eliminate fossil fuel use is that the poorest people do not suffer disproportionately as a result. Because under corporate capitalism – they probably will.

As the Canary only just reported, it emerged at COP29 that a load of climate finance is already being diverted away from the Global South and into the pockets of European countries. where the finance is seeping through, it’s used for land-grabbing and displacing communities.

This is the real threat from Keir Starmer’s brand of climate policy: that it will only benefit the rich, be greenwashing (like Carbon Capture and Storage), or not be equitable for the Global South.

If the gammon spent more time thinking about this, rather than listening to Trump wannabes and believing the climate crisis is a hoax, maybe the world would be a safer place all round.

Featured image via the Canary





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