(l-r) Farage, Davey, Burnham, Badenoch, Polanski

So, the UK’s political party conference season comes to an end for another year – and it was a pretty tumultuous one, too. As a political geek, I listen to the party leaders’ speeches (or most of them) and analyse them where we are with Sustainability in general and climate action in particular.

First up Reform UK, meeting under the shadow of an eve-of-conference Channel 4 exposé on some pretty shady looking party funding dealings, and the risk of being out flanked on their right by their own splinter group Restore UK. Party leader Nigel Farage didn’t say much on Net Zero beyond the usual derision:

We will cut energy bills by £250 and end the net zero lunacy, deindustrialising and destroying the British economy.

Next, the Liberal Democrats’ Ed Davey, who made several positive references to climate action in his speech, but without announcing any new policy angles (rather unexpected from the party of extreme policy geekery):

And on climate change, our party has always been at the forefront of pushing for international action. Global action. We led the work in Europe, forging a historic deal that laid the ground for the Paris Agreement.

All eyes were on new PM Andy Burnham’s speech to his Labour Party faithful, which got very emotional as he welled up when talking about his father who had passed away a few days before. But with a looming by-election fight with the Greens and a outstanding decision on two North Sea oil and gas projects, he pulled a big juicy low carbon rabbit out of the hat.

We are already taking more control of our electricity prices with a massive expansion of home-grown renewables and nuclear. I have asked Miatta [Fahnbulleh, Energy and Net Zero Secretary] to speed up the breaking of the link between what we pay for power at home and the international gas market, to get bills down. And we will be pragmatic in relation to the North Sea as we build a bridge to a clean energy future and face the climate crisis.

But it’s not just the price. The system needs to work better too. You would not believe how many businesses complain to me they can’t get going because they can’t get connected to the grid. It pushes costs up. It drags growth down. And it holds Britain back. We won’t get the growth and inward investment we need if we don’t fix it. So, for the first time, we will have a national energy plan and we will bring back local democratic control through a stronger role for mayors and local leaders.

But we must go further. Today I can announce our plan for Great British Grid. A new branch of Great British Energy. A publicly-owned company that will challenge the private sector operators. It will increase competition, drive down costs and speed up connections so businesses can expand and grow more quickly.

Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch seemed to ease back on her usual pugnacious style a tad. Here’s the section on energy and climate:

Climate change is real but importing oil and gas from countries that drill in a dirtier fashion, that actually increases our emissions. People in Aberdeen told me that their city is dying. The government’s energy policy is killing Aberdeen. No more.

We will drill in the North Sea, increase our tax revenues, and drive down energy prices. We need oil and gas, we need renewables, we need nuclear. We will build new small modular reactors, because our mission is for cheap, clean, abundant energy. Living within our means, delivering cheaper energy, this is how we grow our economy.

If, like most normal people, you only heard the Leader’s speech, you might think ‘clean’ represented a softening of Badenoch’s anti-Net Zero position. However, earlier in the conference her Energy Spokesperson announced they would dismantle pretty much all the renewable energy support mechanisms including the ‘contracts for difference’, so the idea that ‘clean’ energy is really part of the Tory energy mission is for the birds.

It’s often said of Zack Polanski’s Green Party that they don’t talk about the environment much anymore. This year, a highly controversial motion on Zionism hogged the headlines, but in his speech Polanski did talk at length about climate policy and that pending North Sea decision in his speech:

Across the world, the ravages of the climate crisis have been taking lives and destroying livelihoods for years. But this summer, the destruction reached our shores like never before. So many things shocked me this summer. But what shocked me the most?

The silence. Yes, the eerie quiet of that Oxfordshire clearing. But even more chilling – the silence from our government. From the people whose first duty is to keep us safe. In the face of government inaction, it was Greens who stepped in – with our MP Hannah Spencer putting forward a law to protect workers from extreme temperatures. And it was only after we demanded the Prime Minister call a COBR meeting that he finally did – but what was the outcome?

A ban on disposable barbecues.

And then, just weeks later – reports that the same governmnt is set to give the go-ahead to dangerous new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea. It’s not acceptable. This summer’s fires should have been the final nail in the coffin for new oil and gas. We know that drilling for new fossil fuels won’t bring down bills. We know it won’t make us more secure. And we know that it locks us into a hotter, more dangerous climate.

And we say no.  No more fossil fuel extraction – and a clean energy revolution, now.  That means every single home transformed to highest energy efficiency. To keep us cool in summer, to keep us warm in winter – and to keep our bills down.  It means sticking to the plan to cut emissions from polluting vehicles. So our children can breathe clean air in the streets. And parents can breathe easier knowing their kids have a future to look forward to.  And it means a massive expansion of community energy. So our power is cheap, our power is clean – and our power is in our hands.

The question is – will Labour face down the fossil fuel giants? Now, it won’t surprise you to hear that I’m not hopeful about Labour’s backbone. But we know what we have to do. A few weeks ago, we heard that the government had delayed giving the green-light to new oil and gas drilling at Rosebank and Jackdaw.

Why?

Because they’re worried about losing votes to the Greens.  That makes me hopeful. That is the difference our party makes. Vote Green, and watch Labour move.

Unfortunately for Polanski, this argument didn’t help him a few days later in the Holborn and St Pancreas by-election against Labour where he was soundly beaten.

So, where does this leave us? Pretty much as we were with Reform and the Tories being against Net Zero and the other parties being pro. It is expected that the Labour Government will approve the Jackdaw gas field as early as this week (conveniently post-by-election) and, given the global diesel crisis, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Rosebank oil field gets the nod too. Burnham has tried to sugarcoat this announcement with a prior announcement on community energy, and now this very welcome one on accelerating grid connections – hardly a sexy sell to the general public, but important nonetheless. But that was one new policy between five speeches – a tad underwhelming.