Later today the Queen’s speech will outline the government’s plans for the next five years, but Lucas says the omission of “any substantial action on climate change” risks the UK’s long-term social, economic and environmental progress.
“If David Cameron is to be taken seriously as a world leader on the most pressing issue of modern times, then he must be far bolder in implementing policies which allow us to do what the science requires: leave the vast majority of our existing reserves of oil, coal and gas in the ground and unburned,” Lucas said in the New Statesman.
In an opinion piece for the magazine Lucas said: “Tackling the climate crisis is not only a way out of the economic difficulties we face, it’s also an unprecedented opportunity to invest in an economy fit for the 21st century. If we were to invest in an ambitious energy conservation programme, for example, we’d both work towards ending the scandal of cold homes and save the Exchequer money. A radical insulation programme would return £1.27 in tax revenue for every £1 invested by government and create over 100,000 jobs in the UK.”