Institute responds to the King's Speech
Josh Burke and Esin Serin issue comments in response to the King’s Speech delivered on 17 July 2024. The speech outlined the new UK Government’s priorities for the forthcoming parliamentary session.
Josh Burke, Senior Policy Fellow at Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said:
“It’s clear that across the UK people are calling for the government to do more to tackle climate change.
“Redesigning the UK economy to capitalise on the benefits of sustainable growth requires the government to be ambitious and today’s King’s Speech has policies that are examples of the change we need.
“But the Government needs to be bolder. There was also scant attention paid to climate adaptation and resilience in the speech.
“Whilst GB Energy and a bill to support sustainable aviation fuel production are welcome steps to hopefully boost growth, create jobs and safeguard our energy security, we need to see greater investment across all sectors where emissions remain high – such as land use, surface transport and buildings – in order to unlock private investment.”
Esin Serin, Policy Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, said:
“If this government is serious about embedding net zero in a new growth strategy we urgently need to invest in the right areas of the economy.
“Mechanisms like GB Energy and the National Wealth Fund will help scale up sustainable investment in the UK, but with limited capital and scope they can only be part of the solution.
“Driving private sector investment into low-carbon technologies of the future requires bolder action and urgent delivery of planning reforms and enabling infrastructure like the grid and ports.
“A robust industrial strategy overseen by the promised Industrial Strategy Council that recognises and builds on the country’s abundant green strengths should be adopted urgently to maximise economic opportunities on the way.”
ENDS