Labour offers ‘by far the most ambitious’ pledges on tree planting ahead of climate debate
On 28 November, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn unveiled a commitment to create 10 new national parks to tackle the climate crisis. He also promised to set an example for his plans to sow two billion trees by 2040 by planting one given to him by Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists in Downing Street.
Speaking to supporters in Southampton FC’s stadium, Corbyn revealed that he would plant a hornbeam tree he’d received from climate protesters in a “really nice place” in Number 10. This comes as seven XR hunger strikers remain outside the headquarters of political parties in London, having passed the tenth day of their strike. Labour’s John McDonnell met with hunger strikers on 25 November outside Labour HQ and said he would try to arrange a meeting with Corbyn to discuss the strikers’ demands.
Noting estimates that it would require 200 trees to be planted per minute to hit his target, Corbyn pointed out that “it’s not going to be all done by one person”. And he said: “Yes, it is a massive planting programme. I don’t apologise for that because it is a massive issue.”
Corbyn committed to spending £3.7bn in capital investment for the planting programme and habitat restoration if he wins the election. Friends of the Earth welcomed the planting plan as “by far the most ambitious” of all the parties’ tree pledges, which are aimed at capturing atmospheric carbon to offset emissions.
Labour wants the 10 new protected parks to be added to the 15 existing ones during its first term. Candidates include the Malvern Hills, Chiltern Hills, Lincolnshire Wolds, the North and South Pennines, coastal Suffolk and Dorset, the Cotswolds and Wessex. Environmental degradation, potential for carbon sequestration and biodiversity net gain would be among the criteria for the areas to get the status. Labour estimates the programmes would help create 20,000 of the one million green jobs it has pledged as part of a “green industrial revolution”.
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“Ambitious, credible and fully-costed plans to tackle the climate crisis”
Lauren Townsend, spokesperson for Labour for a Green New Deal, previously said:
Recent polls are clear: people want radical action on climate and they want it now. In this climate election there’s only one party that is capable of delivering a programme to decarbonise and upgrade the economy by 2030: the Labour Party. Labour’s Green Industrial Revolution will tackle the climate crisis and build a fairer, more equal and more prosperous society in its place.
The campaign group also highlighted on 28 November that new Survation polling on behalf of the New Economics Foundation thinktank has found high levels of support for Labour’s Green Industrial Revolution plans – particularly in key Labour-held marginals across the Midlands and the North of England. At least two thirds of voters in 45 Labour heartland marginal seats, the group said, would consider action on the climate crisis to be important when deciding who to vote for. The news, it said, could give Labour a boost ahead of Thursday’s Channel 4 climate debate. Angus Satow, co-founder of Labour for a Green New Deal, said:
Labour’s Green Industrial Revolution will bring back investment and good jobs to parts of the country too abandoned for far too long. Voters across the Midlands and North face a clear choice between a Conservative Party who won’t lift a finger for our communities, or a Labour government which will put us at the heart of Britain’s fourth Industrial Revolution.
Meanwhile, the Yorkshire Post reported on 28 November that Labour was planning a “cross-departmental regeneration package” in Yorkshire’s former mining communities, which would include action on “jobs, education, and skills”.
Townsend clarified that:
Labour has developed ambitious, credible and fully-costed plans to tackle the climate crisis by 2030 while building a more prosperous economy for the many by insulating 27 million homes, revolutionising our public transport system and creating a million green jobs. Labour’s Green New Deal is needed for our economy, our planet and our future.
Featured image and additional content via Press Association
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Oh gawd, Diane has been trying her hand at maths again. Over a quarter of a million trees a day everyday for 20 years! But fear not, I have a solution – a Corbyn government could pass a law to make all able bodied unemployed people plant a tree a week. Progress would be slow to start with but his disastrous policies would soon see the dole queue rapidly increasing to the point where, if he could cling on to government for the full 5 year term, he could actually make good on one of his crazy policies.
@SJWsjw You’ve fallen for a BBC sound bite. It only sounds crazy if you picture driving from a garden centre to the countryside with a spade and saplings. In reality, experts say it is doable. 5 minute search on the web says:
* 50 million planted in one day by volunteers in Uttar Pradesh
* Edward Milbank in Northumberland planted 2,000 saplings a day (he enjoyed it at first but got a saw elbow after 2 million in 12 years). So, all you need is 1,000 people with one good elbow and you can get it done by 2032.
Therefore it is a political choice: £3.7bn for 10 national parks to save our planet, OR a couple of London billionaires (e.g. one Russian oligarch arms dealer plus one media baron, donating to Tories while Johnson gets drunk at their debauched parties, see intelligence report sitting on PMs desk).