In the aftermath of the UK’s departure from the EU, the Covid-19 pandemic, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we have plunged into the depths of a cost-of-living crisis. Millions of households continue to feel the financial burden of last winter’s energy bills while also facing spiralling food prices and soaring interest rates on mortgages.  Some parts of the media have suggested that environmental action is now just another additional cost we should do without. But we know that the costs to people and society will spiral out of control if we don’t address the climate and nature crises, and that early action will bring much larger benefits to households and to society.

Safeguarding our natural environment must remain a priority for policy makers. This summer we have witnessed countless real-time manifestations of the climate crisis; July was the hottest month in Earth’s recorded history, leading to record-breaking sea temperatures, and wildfires that have rampaged across Europe and North America. At the same time, flash flooding and typhoons have wreaked havoc across Asia.

If the correct decisions are not taken now, these deadly extreme weather events will simply be a taste of what’s to come, and the UK will not be protected from the impacts of climate change.

Earlier this week, the UK Government unveiled plans to approve hundreds of new North Sea oil and gas exploration licenses.

The UK Government must instead shift its focus towards energy efficiency. The cheapest and greenest energy is the energy we are not using. In the UK, vast quantities of energy are lost through leaky homes, increasing household bills while needlessly adding to the climate crisis. In fact, energy efficiency in the UK is so poor that one in four GBP spent on heating is wasted due to poor insulation. Improving energy efficiency in the UK would reduce bills, increase energy security, and avoid the need for untested and highly expensive technologies such as carbon capture and storage.

Globally, renewable energy is the cheapest form of power. It is simply untrue that the policies we require to reach net zero by 2050 will result in increased costs for the poorest households – the opposite is actually true. Action that is taken today to address these twin crises will only improve outcomes for all sectors of society.  

We have also seen very little progress for nature, both its inclusion within key climate policies, and wider progress on nature’s recovery. The Government’s latest Net Zero Strategy is being taken back to court by Friends of the Earth on the grounds of being insufficient, and there are no new funds or policies in the Government’s new National Adaptation Programme on nature. Just over six months ago, the UK Government was instrumental in securing the COP15 Global Biodiversity Framework. This set a number of essential targets for the recovery of nature and represented a significant steppingstone on the journey to addressing nature’s decline by 2030. However, since targets were agreed last December, we have not seen the required shift from words to action.

• Beavers are nature’s engineers, which can drive the restoration of healthy wetland ecosystems. The licensing of beaver reintroduction was first promised by this government in 2017, and again in 2021. However, progress continues to stall, with no strategy in place for beavers to return to the wild.
• Peat: It has been nearly a year since the UK Government announced its intention to ban the retail sale of bagged peat compost in England and Wales by 2024. With just five months until this date, the government is yet to identify how it will do this.
• Pesticides: Despite signing up to a target to halve the risks posed by pesticides by 2030, in February of this year the UK Government – for the third year in a row – approved the use of a banned, highly toxic neonicotinoid pesticide. Just one teaspoon of this pesticide is enough to kill 1.25 billion honeybees.

Nature needs us, but we need nature just as much

People care deeply about nature and value access to high quality green spaces – for both their physical and mental health. Just a couple of weeks ago, a report from The Wildlife Trusts found that nature-based health and wellbeing programmes could save the NHS over £635 million per year while also targeting anxiety, depression and social isolation.

Findings from The Wildlife Trusts’ Great Big Nature Survey further evidence the value that people in the UK place upon nature with over 70% agreeing that the loss of nature presents a serious threat to humanity (growing to over 90% if also talking about climate change).

The Wildlife Trusts believe that:

1. The UK Government must realign its energy policy away from licensing further oil and gas. The UN and IPCC have made very clear that these steps go against the global action needed to address climate change. None of these solutions can even be delivered quickly: even if processes are sped up, it will still take years for these developments to be built and begin producing energy. Once they are producing fuel, energy prices are driven by global market forces, and so the UK Government cannot guarantee this new energy will be cheaper. 
    
2. We need to prioritise energy efficiency over energy production. This government must focus on reducing fuel bills here in the UK, right now – and fast. This can be done by offering subsidies for insulation in homes and businesses, which has been shown to work well in the past. Government should also promote greener, low energy habits like cycling and using public transport by making them more accessible. Those who rent their homes should also benefit from energy efficient homes, by incentivising landlords to climate-proof their properties.
    
3. Renewable energy must be developed sustainably. Renewables – whether that’s offshore or onshore wind, heat pumps, or solar – must be developed with nature in mind. We know we need to rapidly transition to renewable energy sources if we are to reach net zero, but we must ensure that renewable developments do not damage habitats and the wildlife they support. We can do this by building energy infrastructure close to the communities that will use it, reducing the need for grid and cabling that transports the energy. This infrastructure can harm habitats and food for species like badgers, seals, and dolphins, as well as damaging the seabed, which is itself a vital carbon store. Reducing the infrastructure needed will also make the construction of renewables cheaper. Small scale renewables will be important to the energy transition, as well as larger developments, from solar panels on homes and buildings, to the replacement of boilers with heat pumps. Not only will these changes make our energy cleaner, they will benefit the economy by £7bn a year and create 140,000 new jobs by 2030, research from Cambridge Econometrics has found.
    
4. Long term planning is needed to provide clarity and certainty for industry and consumers.  A comprehensive 20-year national energy efficiency plan would encourage investment at all levels, allowing both businesses and individuals to understand the opportunities for support and funding that will be available to them to help reduce their energy use. A clear roadmap of the skills and materials needed would enable investment in supply chains and workforce training, ensuring the UK has the people and parts needed to roll out.

This should be underpinned by changes to legislation to ensure that all new builds are climate-proofed and actively helping to reduce carbon emissions. New builds should have features like solar panels, heat pumps, sufficient insulation and double glazing. Practical advice and support for households should be offered nationally to steer people towards the right energy efficiency and climate proofing measures for their home.

The UK Government must steer a course through this decade that will strengthen global security and ensure we have a reliable, liveable future. That path can only be centred on reducing the impacts of climate change, boosting climate resilience, and putting nature back into recovery.