The gap between Section 28 being on the statute book and the first same-sex marriages was a mere 11 years, and I’m beginning to hope that the pace of change in climate thinking could be just as rapid.
Back in 2008, a group of environmental campaigners and left-wing economists came together to demand something called a “Green New Deal” to ward off the deepening recession. It is fair to say that they were on the margins. The stimulus the Brown government eventually went for centred on enticements for a consumer splurge: a car scrappage scheme and a VAT cut. David Cameron seamlessly lurched from his “vote blue, go green” marketing shtick to “cut the green crap.”
By 2019, John McDonnell and Jeremy Corbyn had made a “Green Industrial Revolution” the centrepiece of their manifesto, and—as Anne-Marie Trevelyan’s words bear out—today Conservative ministers are using similar language. Ed Miliband demands more money, urgency and concerted central direction. But while Trevelyan stresses “realistic” steps and the role of private industry, Miliband does accept—interestingly—that the government is seized by the issue. Back when Boris Johnson was quipping about sunspots and mini-ice ages in the Telegraph, some would have feared that any administration he led would dabble in denial. Yet here we are.
So what’s changed? Well, the climate of course, but that’s long been under way and is only part of the story. More important is the march of solar technologies, the unexpected ease of decarbonising UK electricity, movements like Extinction Rebellion—plus Beijing and Biden’s Washington are now getting serious. With diplomacy, science and tech all pushing one way, a green transition is not a revolutionary dream but settled common sense. That makes for dull politics, but might just give everyone the confidence to get it done.
