What do the Conservatives say about the environment?

Last September, Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, published a new Delivering Net Zero plan, which set out “a new approach” to reaching the Conservatives’ target of reaching net zero by 2050 (although some scientists believe net zero by 2050 is “too little too late”). Many previous environmental commitments were amended or watered down. This 2050 net zero pledge is a key environmental policy in the Tory 2024 manifesto, where they say they will meet this goal but without “unaffordable eco-zealotry”, according to Sunak.

The manifesto also rules out “creating further green levies”, road pricing and “any frequent flyer levy”.

The Delivering Net Zero plan established that while the Tories were still planning on transitioning the UK to electric vehicles, they had changed their target for reaching that goal from 2030 to 2035. It also promised that the Conservative government would scrap energy efficiency requirements for landlords, impose no rules on carpooling or recycling bins, and would not put in place taxes to discourage flying.

However, former ministers accused the prime minister of “pretending to halt frightening proposals that simply do not exist”, arguing that proposed new rules on carpooling, recycling bins and flight taxes were never actually government policy, but that by pretending to scrap them he could appease his climate-sceptic supporters.

The ban on the sale of new gas boilers from 2035 remains in place, but Sunak’s government watered down this policy too, promising to slow the transition and exempt some households. (The previous goal had been for all new heating system installations to be low carbon by 2035.) The ban on the sale of new petrol cars and fossil fuel heating for off-grid homes has also been pushed back by several years to 2035.

The Conservative Manifesto also states that they will invest £6 billion in energy efficiency over the next three years and will also look at funding an energy efficiency voucher scheme – open to households in England, to support the installation of energy efficiency measures.

Sunak had previously committed to green-lighting more than 100 new oil and gas licences in the North Sea, arguing that this would “boost British energy independence” and “reduce reliance on hostile states”. As of the start of this year, 51 licenses had already been granted, though critics argue this “grossly irresponsible” move will do “vanishingly little for the UK’s energy security and nothing to lower energy bills”.

And he announced that his government would be reviewing low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs), telling The Telegraph that he is “on motorists’ side”. The Department for Transport’s report on LTNs arrived in March of this year, concluding that LTNs succeeded in reducing traffic volumes and improving air quality and road safety, resulting in better quality of life and improvements in the local economy. Nevertheless, the government issued an accompanying press release announcing a “crackdown on anti-driver road schemes”, while transport secretary Mark Harper told the BBC that if local councils did not follow the government’s new guidance on LTNs, they would “have to think about other measures about funding and things like that”.

What does Labour say about the environment?

Labour had previously shared its “green prosperity” plan, outlining how it aims to tackle the climate crisis and protect the environment, and the vast majority of these policies appear in the party’s 2024 manifesto.

The plan includes a windfall tax on oil and gas companies, upgrading the national grid and insulating Britain’s homes. The formation of a new publicly owned energy infrastructure, Great British Energy, forms a significant part of the party’s environment policy, which it says will “give us real energy independence from foreign dictators” and be owned “by the British people, built by the British people and benefit the British people”.

Alongside Great British Energy, Labour has also proposed the creation of a National Wealth Fund to invest in jobs that can rebuild Britain’s industrial power, attract private investment in the nation’s ports and protect the steel industry.

Keir Starmer’s party has also said it would push towards clean power by 2030 by doubling onshore wind capacity, tripling solar power, quadrupling offshore wind, doubling the government’s target on green hydrogen and pushing new nuclear projects over the line.

However, in February the party backtracked on its 2021 promise to invest £28 billion a year in fast-tracking the UK’s shift towards net zero, with shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves saying that Labour needed to be “responsible” with the economy.

What do the Liberal Democrats say about the environment?

The Lib Dems say they want “a flourishing environment, with fair access to nature for all” in its 2024 manifesto and have outlined several environmental policies – related to everything from energy to tackling sewage in UK waters.

The party says it will cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2045, invest in renewable power so that 80% of the UK’s electricity is generated from this source by 2030, improve standards for new homes and provide free retrofits for low-income households.

Ending sewage discharges is also high up on the Lib Dem agenda. They plan to do this by transforming the UK’s water companies into “public benefit companies”, a move that stops short of renationalising the utility but will introduce a “tough new regulator” with new powers to force these companies to work for the good of the environment, preventing “sewage dumps” and banning bonuses for water bosses until discharges and leaks end.

When it comes to transport, the Lib Dems plan to invest in clean public travel through measures such as extending and completing the electrification of Britain’s rail network; enabling and encouraging people to switch to electric vehicles with more charging infrastructure and a reduction in VAT to 5%; and a requirement that every new car sold from 2030 produces zero emissions. They also want to create new cycling and walking networks separate from motorised traffic on roads.

What do the Greens say about the environment?

Forming the major part of its ethos, the Green party has a comprehensive plan when it comes to the environment in its manifesto for the 2024 election.

The Greens say they would invest £29bn over the next five years to insulate homes to an EPC B standard or above as part of a ten-year programme. They would also aim to strengthen international agreements on climate change, especially the Paris Climate Agreement, publish a new Clean Air Act, bring forward the phase-out of petrol and diesel car sales to 2030, and invest £2.5 billion a year in new cycleways and footpaths.

The Green party is also big on improving bus services, with a pledge to increase public funding of bus routes and annual public subsidies for rail and bus travel to £10 billion by the end of the next Parliament, with free bus travel for under-18s. The party also pledges to bring our railways back into public ownership, introduce a frequent-flyer levy and bring in a ban on domestic flights for journeys that would take less than three hours by train.

The UK’s waters are also a priority for the Greens. Like some of the other parties, they will aim to tackle cleaning up our rivers and seas by holding water companies accountable for sewage dumping and putting the running of water services back into public ownership.

General election 2024: what is each party’s policy on the environment?