Britain’s green transition should belong to everyone. Why is Labour so intent on stopping us having our say?
Tearing up planning and using protest laws to criminalise local people – this isn’t how to build the broad consent needed
TL;DR
- The government's climate policy is described as authoritarian, failing to persuade or explain, and forcing compliance.
- There is a lack of public information campaigns and emergency briefings on climate breakdown, unlike during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- The government proposes to curtail the public's legal right to object to 'critical' energy infrastructure, effectively bypassing planning permission challenges.
- This move represents a centralization of power, shifting from a planning system based on consent to one based on decree.
- The article disputes the characterization of objectors as 'blockers' or 'nimbys', citing a case where an objection to a windfarm led to a lawful decision due to the government failing to consider cumulative landscape impacts.
- The government is also reportedly briefing against the Aarhus convention, which limits costs for environmental objectors seeking access to justice.
- Simultaneously, laws and restrictions are used to criminalize those who protest for greater climate ambition.
- The author argues that both major political parties are acting against the public's interest, with Labour potentially benefiting green infrastructure developers over legitimate public concerns.
- A broad public consensus and joint endeavor are necessary for the green transition, but the government's approach is alienating and counterproductive.