Environmental Policy – Where Do They Stand?

Where do the five largest parties in Wales stand on environmental issues?

Conservative Party

The Conservatives have pledged to scrap the Climate Change Act 2008, which was introduced by a Labour government and strengthened by a Tory government. The law committed the UK to cutting carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. In 2019 it updated to reaching net zero by 2050, meaning the UK must cut carbon emissions until it removes as much as it produces. The law passed with the support of all major parties. At their recent party conference, though, current Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said "Labour’s laws tied us in red tape and loaded us with costs".

Environmental groups responded by saying scrapping the law would be an act of "national self-harm".

Former Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May said the decision "upends 17 years of consensus between our main political parties and the scientific community". She added that “the science remains the same."

The 2008 law also established the Climate Change Committee, which advises the government on meeting the target. This committee would be scrapped if the law was revoked, and its rational, informed voice would be silenced.

At the 2025 Conservative Party conference, Kemi Badenoch promised to maximise extraction of oil and gas from the North Sea. Consequences would include:

-         The release of vast amounts of carbon dioxide

-         Scope 3 emissions from burning the fuel

-         Release of chemicals, hydrocarbons, and microplastics into the sea, directly harming marine life, breaking down natural food webs and leading to a less diverse ecosystem.

-         Oil spills will be a major long-term threat to marine ecosystems.

On environmental issues, the Conservative Party of 2025 appears to be turning its back on objective scientific fact and embracing courses of action that the scientific community, and the party’s own previous leaders, have agreed is dangerous and irresponsible.  

Green Party

The Green Party’s environmental proposals include the following:

Climate Target:

Transition to a zero-carbon society by 2040 at the latest, a decade ahead of other major UK parties' targets.

Energy Generation:

Achieve around 70% of UK electricity from wind by 2030, with delivery of 80GW offshore, 53GW onshore, and 100GW of solar by 2035. They also plan to phase out nuclear energy due to safety and cost concerns.

Fossil Fuels:

Immediately cancel all new fossil fuel extraction licenses, such as for the Rosebank field, and end all subsidies to the oil and gas industries. A carbon tax will be introduced on all fossil fuels, rising progressively over a decade to drive their replacement.

Housing and Buildings:

Implement a national, local-authority-led "street-by-street" retrofit program to insulate homes, aiming for an EPC B standard or above, to reduce energy bills and emissions. All new homes would be required to meet Passivhaus or equivalent standards and include solar panels and heat pumps.

Transport:

Invest heavily in public transport, walking, and cycling infrastructure (£2.5 billion a year on cycleways and footpaths). Other measures include ending airport expansion plans, a frequent flyer levy, banning short-haul domestic flights where a train journey takes less than three hours, and bringing the railways into public ownership.

Nature and Biodiversity:

Introduce a new Rights of Nature Act giving legal personhood to nature and set aside 30% of UK land and seas for high-priority protection and restoration by 2030 (the "30 by 30" target). They support a significant increase in the agriculture budget to support a transition to nature-friendly farming (agroecology).

Water and Waste:

Renationalise water companies to end the sewage scandal, invest £12bn in sewage infrastructure, and ban most single-use plastics. They also propose ending the export of plastic waste.

As appealing as these policies may be to many of us, the Green Party's economic policies are questionable. There's evidence to suggest that they don’t understand how money works. The party’s official economic policy proposes the creation of a National Monetary Authority to manage the stock of UK currency. It will create new money available for government spending, circulated into the economy in line with budget needs.The People's Library believes this policy misunderstands what money is. In our world, money is simply a promise to pay. It comes into existence when a promise is made. It ceases to exist when the promise is fulfilled. For example, each of us creates money when we borrow from the bank and promise to repay the loan. We then fulfil the promise when we repay it. Regardless of what we may have in our pockets at any given moment, in economic terms there is no physical object called “money”. There’s only a promise of payment. Without a promise to pay there is no such thing as money, and you can’t create and distribute promises that don’t exist between people and organisations that don’t know they’re making them.

This suggests that while the Green Party are admirable campaigners for environmental issues and should have a voice, they would be ineffective in government because their mishandling of the economy would make it impossible for them to fund their positive plans.

Labour

How did the Labour government’s actions measure up to their promises in their first year in office? The Centre for Climate Engagement tracks the Government’s green policy developments. The UK was one of the first countries to reveal its updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) at COP29, with a commitment to cut UK emissions by 81% before 2035.

Labour’s flagship economic policy, the Green Prosperity Plan (GPP) was announced in 2021, and made a commitment to invest £28 billion a year - £140 billion across a five-year parliament - in green industries. It has now been reduced to £23.7 billion across five years, a reduction of 83%. This early u-turn created scepticism, raising concerns over Labour’s ability to deliver results.

This government has faced difficult global challenges. Tariff disputes, and international conflicts have created an increasingly volatile landscape. The mission of delivering Clean Power by 2030 still stands and Labour are still committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050. 

Liberal Democrats

Lib Dems say climate change is an existential threat. Soaring temperatures leading to wildfires, floods, droughts and rising sea levels are affecting millions of people directly, and billions more through falling food production and rising prices.

They say soaring energy bills are hurting families and businesses, fuelling the cost-of-living crisis. Russia’s assault on Ukraine has reinforced the need to significantly reduce the UK’s dependence on fossil fuels and invest in renewables – both to cut energy bills and to deliver energy security.

Lib Dems are committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2045 at the latest. They propose to make homes warmer and cheaper to heat with a ten-year emergency upgrade programme, starting with free insulation and heat pumps for those on low incomes, and ensure that all new homes are zero-carbon. They propose to drive a rooftop solar revolution by expanding incentives for households to install solar panels, including a guaranteed fair price for electricity sold back into the grid. They propose to invest in renewable power so that 90% of the UK’s electricity is generated from renewables by 2030.

Lib Dems have proposed to fund their green policies through new taxes on banks, energy companies, and tech giants, alongside cracking down on tax avoidance and evasion. For example, their 2024 manifesto suggests these measures could raise approximately £27 billion annually, which would help fund their climate policies and other spending commitments. Key policies include significant investment in renewable energy, a ten-year emergency home upgrade program, and potentially lowering household energy bills. These policies haven’t been tested in government, but they are detailed and properly costed.

Plaid Cymru

Plaid Cymru’s written pledges include a commitment to reaching net zero targets in Wales by 2035. To achieve this, every home and business in Wales would need to be powered by electricity only, and there would also need to be a complete change in the way farming is managed. The targets are welcome but Plaid haven’t offered a detailed breakdown of how they would set abut achieving them.

Plaid aims to reverse biodiversity decline by 2030. Again, this is admirable, but there isn’t any detail available on how they would achieve this target.

Plaid has set out an ambition to create a Welsh Green New Deal, and to reform the Development Bank of Wales to enable it to invest in green infrastructure. That would enable public investment in (eg) wind farms, but there are no numbers to back it up. Plaid haven’t suggested how much money they would commit or how much they think is needed.

Plaid’s manifesto has a focus on fairness, with plans to tax wealth more progressively. Plaid also committed to introducing a social tariff for energy, meaning those who can’t afford their bills would no longer be left without power.

Plaid have strongly called for reductions in single-use plastic, though, calling for Wales to lead the way in the UK by banning single-use plastic bags. Plaid have admirable green ambitions, but haven’t yet shared details of how they would deliver and pay for them.

Reform UK

Reform UK opposes the UK's net zero target, arguing that it’s an unnecessary cost and a threat to national security. The party advocates for expanding domestic fossil fuel extraction, such as oil, gas, and shale gas, while also investing in domestic energy sources like nuclear power.

Reform UK's official policy is to scrap the legally binding net zero target by 2050.

Reform UK questions climate change: while an updated version of their manifesto removed unscientific statements, the party has previously questioned the scientific consensus on human-caused climate change.

Regarding fossil fuels, Reform UK supports increasing domestic oil and gas extraction through fast-track licences for North Sea production and test sites for shale gas (fracking). Fracking in the UK has already proved to be environmentally and geologically perilous; in the calendar year 2011, 58 earthquakes were reported in Lancashire as a direct result of drilling at the Preese Hall Well near Blackpool. Cuadrilla Resources, the drilling company responsible, shut down the well and filled it in. So a drilling company recognised the danger and stepped back, but a political party aspiring to govern is now ignoring it.

Reform UK proposes to scrap all renewable energy subsidies and has suggested a windfall tax on wind and solar power, which would make new large-scale projects impossible.

Reform UK has distanced itself from the current government’s plans to invest in water industry infrastructure and halve sewage spills in this country by 2030. It seems reasonable to infer that if you vote for Reform UK, you’re not quite defecating on your own doorstep, but you are allowing other people to do it, poisoning the water you drink and the air you breathe.