Fleur Anderson MP Labour MP for Putney, Roehampton & Southfields
Climate Action
The Labour Party and I are committed to taking urgent action to address the interlinking climate, environmental and energy crises. We will continue to press the Government to take action to tackle these interlinking crises and will continue to develop policies which a future Labour Government to implement.
Please see below some of the policies the Labour Party has announced so far. More details and policies will be announced in the coming months and in the next manifesto.
Labour Party Policies on Climate Action:
To address the Climate Crisis, the Labour Party has committed to a Green Prosperity Plan. Labour have committed to achieving the substantial majority of our emissions reductions by 2030, making climate justice a priority, and taking action to accelerate the benefits of nature restoration and recovery.
Labour will deliver a zero-carbon electricity system by 2030, an ambitious but achievable target that would make the UK the world’s first major economy to do so. Working with businesses, we will invest to quadruple offshore wind, triple solar, and double onshore wind by the end of this decade, while backing nuclear, hydrogen, and tidal power.
Labour’s policy will cut energy bills for good, taking up to £1,400 off the annual household bill and £53 billion off energy bills for businesses by 2030; it will create good jobs, by rebuilding the strength of our industrial heartlands and coastal communities, creating over a million jobs in ten years; it will deliver security, by using our abundant natural resources to free ourselves from the manipulations of Vladimir Putin and petrostates; and it will provide climate leadership, to protect our planet for future generations.
Labour will establish GB Energy – a new home-grown, publicly-owned champion in clean energy generation – to build jobs and supply chains here at home; and we will set up the National Wealth Fund, which will create good, well-paying jobs by investing alongside the private sector in gigafactories, clean steel plants, renewable-ready ports, and green hydrogen and energy storage.
Labour will upgrade the energy efficiency of nineteen million homes with our Warm Homes Plan, so that families have cheaper energy bills permanently, with warm, future-proofed homes. Labour will also invest up to £3 billion in greening our steel industry, alongside investment in factories to build batteries for electric vehicles, a thriving hydrogen industry, and manufacturing of offshore wind turbines here in the UK.
Please also see a link below to a briefing outlining in more detail Labour’s mission to make the UK a clean energy superpower:
https://labour.org.uk/missions/making-britain-a-clean-energy-superpower/
Labour Party Policies on Environmental Action:
Labour believe we need ambitious biodiversity targets. It’s clear that the Government won’t even be able to achieve their embarrassingly poor targets for protecting the UK’s natural environment.
The Labour Party are in the process of devising a science-led, joined-up plan to tackle the climate and ecological emergency. The plan will aim to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, rather than simply halting it, which is the government’s current target.
As it stands, Labour has committed to a proper test for every single nature policy that halts and reverses the loss of biodiversity by 2030, for the benefit of all people and the planet. Labour will also introduce a clean air act to clean up the air in and around our cities.
A Labour Government would also look at further restricting the use of trawlers in the ocean in a bid to rewild the seas, protecting them from the most destructive fishing techniques. The Conservatives have failed to protect our seas. Trawler nets have ripped the kelp from the sea bed and harmful sediments are regularly dumped from dredging activity. Labour believes that a sustained programme of ocean rewilding must be part of any plan to tackle the climate emergency.
Additionally, Labour would review and potentially expand the Conservatives’ nature-friendly farming payment schemes to include, for example, hedgerow creation. Unfortunately, the UK is one of the most severely nature-depleted countries worldwide. Going forward we need to focus on improving our rewilding, reforesting and biodiversity, which includes hedgerows. We should be the change we want to see – action at home can showcase for the world how nature can be practically lived across government.
My Actions to Address the Climate and Environmental Crises:
Putney Environment Commission:
Taking action on the Climate Emergency was one of the reasons I became an MP and one of the first things I did was to set up the Putney Environment Commission. This is a group of local people wanting to take action locally, nationally and internationally. We have had several meetings and ran the Clean Air Fair last September. Please email me if you would like to link to join the Environment Commission WhatsApp Group.
Wet wipes Campaign:
I am currently leading a national campaign to ban plastics in wet wipes, involving a parliamentary bill and widespread coverage in the national press. Addressing this issue is crucial because whether wet wipes are flushed or binned, the plastic in them enters the environment and causes huge levels of environmental damage. You can find more information about my campaign here: https://www.fleuranderson.co.uk/ban-plastic-in-wet-wipes/
The campaign has cross-party support and the support of environmental organisations and it has have had some good successes. Boots and Tesco have banned wet wipes containing plastic from their stores and the Government has said it will ban plastic in wet wipes but hasn’t said when this will come into force. I am currently waiting for the Government to publish the results of its consultation on a ban, and I will continue the campaign until we get the ban implemented.
COP Climate Summits:
I attended COP28 as part of a delegation of 10 MPs who have been chosen to attend due to our work on climate and the environment. One of the areas I led on in advance of COP28 was organising a briefing for UK MPs by Aid Agencies and NGOs.
I also spoke in the COP28 debate in advance of the summit where I raised many environmental and climate issues with the Government, such as the need for an international agreement for no new fossil fuels, and the promised $100 billion in climate finance annually to developing countries.
I previously handed 25,000 climate messages from the UK public to 10 Downing Street to urge the Government to act at COP27 to ensure everyone has clean water they can rely on to protect themselves against the impacts of extreme weather, wherever they live. Please see details of this in the link below:
https://www.wateraid.org/uk/media/wateraid-and-celebrities-call-on-the-government-to-prioritise-clean-water-for-people-living
Speeches and Oral Questions:
Please see below some speeches and oral questions I have carried out regarding the climate and environmental crises.
I recently asked a question about nutrient neutrality in the House of Commons chamber.
I spoke in the summer adjournment debate and spoke about Putney Environment Commission and the 18 areas, highlighted by the Climate Change Committee, where the Conservative Government are failing on energy and climate:
I spoke in the debate on Debt in Africa and raised the importance of climate finance and climate action.
I spoke in the debate on Plastic Pollution in the Ocean:
In a recent debate following the Kings Speech I raised my disappointment at the lack of legislation in the King’s Speech to move the UK towards a net zero green future.
Campaign against Heathrow Expansion:
I am a proud campaigner against the Heathrow expansion because in our constituency, we feel a direct impact of the Governments lack of climate action. We live under a major global flight path, so we know what it is like to have thousands of tonnes of carbon particulates dumped on us every day from above, and to have to suffer the noise from the aircraft. Please see a link below to a page on my website containing updates on the campaign.
https://www.fleuranderson.co.uk/opposing-the-expansion-of-heathrow-airport/
Environment Bill:
I served on the Bill Committee for the Environment Bill during which I pushed the Government to adopt more robust protections for the environment. The Environment Bill has been the Government’s flagship Environment Bill – they won’t pass another – but was a huge missed opportunity to take real action. I was on the Bill Committee of 17 MPs and proposed nearly 200 amendments. All of these were defeated by the Conservative members. This demonstrates the Governments complete lack of urgency and seriousness in its approach to the climate and environmental crises. I spoke on this Bill 15 times, you can see my speeches online on many different aspects of the Bill which should have been stronger or which are just missing. Here was my last speech on the Environment Bill:
Green Homes Grant:
I was leading a campaign to reform and bring back the Green Homes Grant. Please see a letter I previously wrote to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy regarding this campaign below, and oral question I asked in the House of Commons Chamber:
- https://www.fleuranderson.co.uk/2021/09/24/letter-green-homes-grant/
- https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2022-01-19/debates/2CD835A5-0C92-4F7C-9434-A29F3049F11A/OralAnswersToQuestions#contribution-0CD28AB4-C9D1-4801-9C84-B46B1EF5B292
Resilience:
In my previous role as Shadow Paymaster General, I carried out extensive work aiming to improve the UK’s resilience to climate change. Please see an oral question I asked regarding this below:
Written Parliamentary Questions:
I have asked many written parliamentary questions about the climate and environmental crises. Please see some recent written questions below.
- https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-04-28/183275
- https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-03-27/174456
- https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-01-15/9670
- https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-03-23/172517
- https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-02-17/147396
- https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-12-18/7426
