How to defend the ‘green crap’: reflections for environmental communicators from the Uxbridge by-election

As Europe grapples with wildfires and the hottest temperatures on record, the UK is starting to look increasingly detached from the crisis of our generation.

Over the last few weeks, both of the UK’s major political parties have lost the courage of their convictions when it comes to addressing alarming global heating and toxic air pollution.

Having lost the Uxbrige by-election turned by the Conservatives into a referendum on the impacts of the ULEZ expansion in London, Labour’s regional and national leadership on the policy has faltered. Meanwhile, an emboldened climate sceptic wing of the Conservative party, unimpeded by a seemingly disinterested Prime Minister, has successfully sought to turn a locally specific debate over policy implementation into a licence to question the merits of net zero policies.

It is disappointing to see how quickly a public health policy aimed at reducing and preventing air pollution deaths has turned into a debate over policies to reduce the emissions that cause them. It is also deeply unfair, given air pollution disproportionately affects deprived communities, who contribute least to the problem. ULEZ is one of the first and more significant policies aimed at achieving fair and positive public health and environmental outcomes for people in London and, seeing this debate play out as it has, has understandably worried many.

It is no surprise that Uxbridge voters are apprehensive, particularly when they feel there has been little reassurance about how any negative distributional impacts of the ULEZ might be mitigated. Whilst the political ramifications have been dissected in the media, one thing this has reinforced for the environment sector is that - with everything to play for at the next general election - politicians will need to make decisions that are easy to understand and support.  It is up to us - campaigners, communicators, businesses and investors in the green economy - to provide them with the tools they need.  

So what are the lessons we should take from the last week?

1. Watering down or rowing back is not the answer. The urgency to tackle the climate and nature crises remains. But we have to engage with the realistic impacts of green policies and provide solutions to their limitations. If a policy can’t work for people now, the question needs to be how can we make it work, not how do we scrap or delay it.

2. The alternatives need to be in place first. Any policies that penalise polluting behaviours need to be introduced after cleaner alternatives are available, to avoid negatively impacting people, as has been made clear by IPPR, the Zero Carbon Campaign and many others. The ULEZ was set up to fail in London without meaningful scrappage schemes and will lead to similar challenges elsewhere, especially where public transport links and infrastructure are weaker. This also applies to other decarbonisation measures, such as switching away from gas boilers, flying less or changing diets.

3. It’s all about fairness. Who is going to benefit from this and who isn’t? If not properly thought through, environmental policies can exacerbate inequality and poverty. Rather than leaving the ‘hard part’ for policy makers to do, the sector can identify solutions to making policies fairer.

4. People and businesses need to know what policies mean for them.  The public supports net zero and wants to go faster, but cost will always be a major concern. Since the election, a deluge of polling has resurfaced to remind political leaders just how much people do care about addressing climate change, but this must be balanced with the cost a living crisis. Solutions need to work for people, planet, and the public purse to avoid backlash  For those using the cost argument to oppose all net zero policies, it is also worth looking at the cost of inaction: energy bills would be £2.5bn lower had climate policies not been scrapped in the last decade, and delaying the introduction of insulation standards could cost private renters £1.4bn.

We can learn good lessons from the last week. As net zero policies turn from targets to real life, and consequences are felt by households, these kinds of discussions will increase in frequency. Holding firm against media division and shifting political winds is a challenge, but we should see it as an opportunity to respond constructively and to fill gaps where they exist. Cleaner, healthier air, new industries and jobs and new technologies are solutions that we as a sector are excited about, we need to make politicians and the public excited about them too.