At an event on net zero, co-organised by the IPPR thinktank and the Green Alliance this week, Miliband was quizzed on the Treasury’s recent estimate that meeting the target by 2050 will cost £1 trillion.
The MP, who was secretary of state for energy and climate under the last Labour government, said the Treasury mindset “still seems to be stuck in 30 years ago” when it was more widely believed that environment and economic goals are in conflict.
“In fact, the opposite is true,” he said.
Miliband also endorsed obliging the Chancellor of the Exchequer to report to Parliament on the UK’s progress on its statutory climate change targets as a way of getting the Treasury to take ownership of the issue.
“Non-ownership by the Treasury under governments of both parties is a problem, because it means the Treasury is an internal resistance within government,” he said.
But Miliband, who was a special adviser at the Treasury when Gordon Brown was chancellor, refused to blame the department’s civil servants for the lack of enthusiasm on climate change issues, arguing that it was up to ministers to show leadership.
“We haven’t yet had anyone for who it is a core part of their DNA: when we do, change will come.”
He also backed the UK attempting to hit its net-zero target before 2050, the date signed into law by the government last week. “2050 can be a backstop and we should try and do it earlier.”
And Miliband, who is chairing an IPPR commission on environmental justice, welcomed the demand for more radical targets, like Extinction Rebellion’s call for net zero to be achieved by 2025.
“It has been incredibly important because it’s changing the terms of reference about what can be done.”
And he defended the Committee on Climate Change’s estimate that meeting the net zero will cost one or two per cent of GDP as relatively small within the context of overall public spending.
“It’s an incredibly small amount of money to get to net zero. We are not talking about huge amounts for what is a massive transition.”
Isabella Gornall, a member of the Conservative Environment Network, backed the idea of creating a cabinet committee to spearhead decarbonisation efforts.
“The more co-ordination we have, the cheaper the transition will be so need really strong co-ordination across Whitehall, she said.
And to show a “clear direction and sense of urgency”, Gornell urged the next prime minister, to appoint the best ministers into portfolios with a net zero remit.