Two weeks after outgoing UK Prime Minister Theresa May announced that she was introducing legislation to enshrine into law a net zero emissions by 2050 target, the country’s interim Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth has signed the target into law, making the UK the first major global economy to pass such a law.
The United Kingdom’s embattled Prime Minister, Theresa May, promised on Friday that “Brexit will not be a race to the bottom” for the country as she spoke at Danish energy giant Orsted’s offshore wind factory in Grimsby, heralding the importance of offshore wind to the future of the country a day after her government had launched its long-awaited Offshore Wind Sector Deal.
Attending French Presidents Emmanuel Macron’s One Planet Summit this week, UK Prime Minister Theresa May has vowed that her country will lead the way in phasing-out coal while also committing £140 million of new funding to support the world’s poorest communities in addresssing the effects of climate change.
A group of businesses and investors have written to UK Prime MInister Theresa May, urging her to raise the country’s ambitions to tackle climate change and increase her leadership of the UK “towards a stronger, more prosperous, and more sustainable future for its people and the economy.”
Nearly 400 global investors who together manage more than $22 trillion in assets have written to G20 leaders in advance of the G20 summit, urging them to commit to the Paris Agreement and help drive its implementation.
Leaked documents obtained by Greenpeace’s Energydesk reveal that the UK Government lobbied the European Union to weaken its own energy regulations on the very same day that UK Prime Minister Theresa May triggered Article 50, the country’s ‘Brexit’ out of the EU.
The UK Conservative Party has published its policy manifesto in the lead-up to the surprise General Election called back in April, giving a strong signal that the Conservative Government, if re-elected, will deliver a clean and diverse energy mix, but one without any new onshore wind farms.
With the surprise UK general election only a few weeks away, the country’s renewable energy trade organisations are rushing to add their voices to the mix, laying out renewable energy “manifestos” and “plans” and “visions” for the resulting UK government to implement upon victory.
Environmental organizations such as Greenpeace, WWF, and Friends of the Earth have signed a joint letter to the UK Prime Minister warning the UK government against watering down its climate change and environmental policy commitments, following the release of photographed documents suggesting the Government would “scale down” environmental measures in an effort to smooth post-Brexit trade deals.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s shock announcement to call a General Election for June 8 in an attempt to solidify her grip on power amidst the turmoil of upcoming Brexit negotiations has only served to further hinder the country’s green economy and policy moves, an unintended consequence which will create policy and investment uncertainty for months to come.
