Climate change and energy have risen up the political agenda

The need to address climate change is, for the most part, something that all politicians and parties agree on. That’s not something that can be said for the methods of course. The recent announcement from the Labour Party detailing a proposal to bring the National Grid and regional energy distribution companies into public ownership and to install solar panels across 1.75 million social and other low-income homes is a prime example. The Party claim it is an important element of their plans for a ‘Green Industrial Revolution’ with an expectation to create 400,000 jobs. Opponents claim the move to nationalisation will delay progress to green energy due to the distraction, cost and complexity contained in the plans. At the moment nationalisation is only an idea in a plan but the debate does reflect how climate change and specifically energy have risen up the political agenda with some describing energy as a ‘human right’. The technology to produce substantial amounts of clean energy is proven as it is for clean transport and heating. There is already political will at a national and local level, an appetite from investors, consumer behaviour change and a range of pilot projects but there needs to be much more of it to create progress at the scale necessary to meet targets. We know significant changes to the way we live are coming and although local projects are vital,  the answers to the bigger questions enabling a smart, clean, flexible energy system appropriate for all customers still need to be found.