Friends say Johnson’s ‘New Deal’ does little for climate crisis
Disappointment at proposals including infrastructure projects and planning rules reform
Quaker climate campaigners have said that Boris Johnson’s ‘New Deal’ in which he pledged to ‘build, build, build’ offers little to tackle the climate emergency and create a green and just recovery from the pandemic.
Several Friends have said they are ‘disappointed’ with the proposals, which include infrastructure projects – many small scale – and reforms to planning rules. From September, developers will be allowed to ‘demolish and rebuild’ vacant and redundant residential and commercial buildings if they are rebuilt as homes. More commercial buildings will also be able to be switched to housing without a planning application, and property owners may build ‘additional space above their properties’, via a ‘fast track approval process’.
Although pledges to plant 75,000 more acres of trees by 2025 were welcomed, environmental experts have said they are dismayed with other plans, which they claim will not help the UK decarbonise and are still rooted firmly in the ‘fossil fuel age’. Many noted the omission of publicised plans to boost energy efficiency through a national programme of home insulation, despite a £9.2 billion Conservative manifesto pledge.
Quaker environmentalist Martin Birley told the Friend: ‘While other countries are taking care not to subsidise companies that use tax havens or promote fossil fuels, we are doing the opposite.’
Meanwhile Chris Martin, from Central England Quakers, called the proposals, announced in the Midlands on 30 June, ‘disappointing in that the emphasis appears to be on roads and other “shovel-ready” old economy construction projects. I was hoping to see details of work placements and training for young people. Birmingham is a very unequal city and inner-city communities depend heavily on retail, restaurants and delivery services for their incomes. These areas are being extremely hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and there is no evidence that the prime minister’s proposals will help “level up” Birmingham’s communities’.
He added: ‘At a recent Footsteps interfaith “Just Transition – Community Perspectives” online workshop we were reminded that timing is crucial with social change. The Covid-19 pandemic and impending economic recession provide a window of opportunity. Approaches that are joined up all the way from community and ward level to national policy are needed. Quakers need to be grasping these opportunities, challenging politicians to deliver on their headline statements but also examining how they spend their own money.’
