Boris Johnson pledges to make Britain ‘cleanest, greenest country on Earth’

The Conservative Party secured the biggest majority since the 1980s at this year’s general election

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Boris Johnson has secured a historic general election victory and has pledged to make Britain the “cleanest, greenest” country on Earth.

The Conservative Party secured the biggest majority since the 1980s after clinching seats from Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party.

Mr Johnson said the Tories’ victory had “smashed the roadblock” in Parliament over Brexit and put an end to the “miserable threats” of another referendum on Europe.

He added his government will put “colossal new investments in infrastructure, in science, using our incredible technological advantages to make this country the cleanest, greenest on Earth, with the most far-reaching environmental programme”.

He said: “You the people of this country voted to be carbon neutral in this election. You voted to be carbon neutral by 2050 and we’ll do it.”

“You voted for all these things and it is now this government, this People’s Government, it’s our solemn duty to deliver on each and every one of those commitments.”

Some of the energy and environment pledges made by the Tories’ are as follows:

Energy

The party has committed to keep the existing energy price cap and invest £6.3 billion to improve the energy efficiency of 2.2 million disadvantaged homes, which it claims will help reduce their energy bills by as much as £750 a year.

Two schemes will be implemented:

A £3.8 billion Social Housing Decarbonisation Scheme, which will focus on improving the insulation provided in two million social homes, expected to reduce their energy bills by an average of £160 a year

A £2.5 billion Homes Upgrade Grants scheme, which will replace boilers, provide insulation and in some cases, replace energy systems. Around 200,000 homes will be upgraded, claimed to provide annual savings of £750 a year on average. It will cover the costs up to £12,000 and apply to fuel poor households, both private and social with poor energy efficiency.

The £1 billion Ayrton Fund will be used to develop affordable and accessible clean energy “that will improve lives” and help lead the world in tackling climate change.

The manifesto pledged to work with the market to deliver two million new jobs in clean growth, invest £800 million to build the first fully deployed carbon capture and storage (CCS) cluster by the mid-2020s and invest £500 million to help energy intensive industries move to low carbon techniques.

It will also support new floating wind farms, gas from hydrogen production and nuclear energy, including fusion, alongside its commitment to renewable energy.

The party has pledged not to support fracking “unless the science shows categorically that it can be done safely”.

Environment

It has pledged to reach net zero by 2050 “by building on our superb global reputation for action” to protect the environment and fight climate change.

The party is also committing to ban plastic waste exports outside the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Developing (OECD) to reduce the environmental impact on the oceans as well as developing countries that don’t have the capacity to handle it properly.

It will introduce extended producer responsibility so producers pay the full costs of dealing with the waste they produce and boost domestic recycling.

Its manifesto confirms the new Office for Environmental Protection and its own legal targets, including for air quality and penalties for fly-tipping will be increased while those on community sentences will be made to clean up their parks and streets.

A deposit return scheme will also be introduced to incentivise people to recycle plastic and glass.

The party will launch a new £640 million Nature for Climate fund to help reach the net zero goal, create new National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and restore the nation’s peatland.

Transport

The party has committed to invest £1 billion in completing a fast charging network for electric vehicles (EVs) to ensure everyone is within 30 miles of a rapid charging station.

It will consult on the earliest date the UK can phase out the sale of new conventional petrol and diesel cars.

It will also invest in electric buses, with the aim of developing the UK’s first all-electric bus town and create a new £350 million Cycling Infrastructure Fund with mandatory design standards for new routes.

The party says no new public money will be provided for a third runway at Heathrow Airport and new technology will be used to cut the time aircraft spend waiting to land, reducing delays and noise pollution.

Greening homes

It has pledged to support the creating of new types of homes that have low energy bills and which support the UK’s environmental targets.

Innovative design and technology will be encouraged for “homes for the future” and all new streets will be expected to be lined with trees.

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