On climate, Labour seeks bite-size answers from universities

Scientists and universities wanting to help the green transition were urged to “cut to the chase” and tell policy-makers, in short bite-sized pieces of information instead of long, detailed research documents, what needs to be done now to save the planet from further global warming.

Speaking to delegates attending Universities UK’s conference on “Universities, sustainability and the climate emergency 2024”, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Net Zero Kerry McCarthy said most politicians “don’t have the time to read lots and lots of research” and don’t need to be experts on everything.

“What I want to know is what is bad, what isn’t happening, and what the government needs to do,” said the MP for Bristol East, who was previously Labour’s shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs and shadow minister for green transport.

The one-day Universities UK conference on 18 January 2024 brought together university staff and other experts working on sustainability and climate change to discuss how universities can drive urgent climate action.

McCarthy was invited to give the keynote address with an eye on the opinion polls and the forthcoming UK general election later this year which Labour is expected to win outright, or at least become the largest party in the next parliament.

Green investment plan

She used her conference speech to dismiss press speculation that Labour leader Keir Starmer might ditch the party’s £28 billion (US$35.5 billion) green investment plan if it is deemed damaging to the party’s election chances of winning back power.

However, McCarthy did say: “Our Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has made it very clear that any investment that we do will be done through borrowing and has to be done within the fiscal rules.” She added that it will take time to put the necessary funding in place and won’t be the first thing Labour does if it wins the general election.

She also warned scientists that “the green prosperity plan is more about capital investment rather than research”. However, she pledged that universities will have “an absolutely key role” in Labour’s £28 billion green prosperity plan.

Opportunities, not problems

Her message to scientists and universities driving research and creating the skills to tackle global warming was the same as it was to environmental campaigners and young people suffering from ‘eco-anxiety’ – and that is, “highlight the opportunities to make a real change rather than just highlighting the scale of the problem”.

She urged: “Instead of saying no more oil and gas, can you say that we want lots more onshore wind [power] because actually there’s a battle to be had there and the objection of one person can stop the wind turbine from being built.

“We need to stop thinking we’re powerless and talk with optimism about the opportunities for nature-based solutions.”

McCarthy said Labour’s green investment plans were similar to what US President Joe Biden has announced and implemented in the United States and claimed they would be “transformational” in reaching out to parts of the country that have de-industrialised and have lost their manufacturing base – the old rust belt areas.

“The narrative we want to get across over here is that green transition isn’t a threat to these communities. It is offering massive opportunities,” she said.

Harness R&D to create jobs

McCarthy went on to stress the importance of “harnessing Britain’s expertise in R&D” and not just to come up with great ideas and export them, but to create new jobs by making sure the green transition is carried through into manufacturing and the supply chain with proposed publicly-owned clean energy company, GB Energy, taking a stake in strategic projects.

McCarthy said Labour would set up a national wealth fund to invest in green industries and a key part of her role would be to “identify where that public spending is needed and where the market will step up”.

She claimed that industry is constantly telling her the money is there for green transition.

They just need to know Labour will be active in tackling the obstacles like the planning system and workforce availability so they can make reasonable progress with their projects.

“Where there is a need for pump priming we will do that,” pledged McCarthy.

In terms of universities and the skills gap, McCarthy said she was trying to get across to young people what the opportunities are in the green sector – everything from working on nature-based solutions to tackling climate change.

“Some are very excited to get into the techie-side, but others don’t want to be engineers or whatever and we need to show young people what sort of jobs are out there and provide gap years so that young people can work on green projects,” she said.

Universities’ carbon footprints

Universities can also play their part by reducing their own carbon footprint, said McCarthy, who added that reducing carbon footprints in the construction of both people’s homes and public buildings was vital, with “embodied carbon being responsible for more emissions than aviation and shipping”.

In London, she said, the Labour mayor “requires a whole life carbon assessment of any major development and that’s something we plan to do in Bristol, working with local universities”.

McCarthy also used her conference speech to mention recent criticism about the relationship between universities and fossil fuel companies, referring to a report in The Guardian in October 2023 which claimed that universities had taken £40 million in fossil fuel funding since 2022.

“I hope you can find alternative sources of sponsorship,” said McCarthy while accepting that some energy companies are at the forefront of the green transition.

She also highlighted Labour’s proposed reform of the levy on businesses for apprenticeships, saying: “The levy is not working as well as it could and a lot of the money is unspent.

“We are proposing keeping 50% of that for apprenticeships, but also have a growth and skills levy which will be more about lifelong learning and people doing short transition courses to transfer over so they can work in the new green sector,” she said.

Low-carbon travel

The final session of the Universities UK conference heard from Deborah McAllister, global vice-president of the Climate Action Network for International Educators (CANIE), who tackled one of the criticisms of academics and other higher professionals who talk a lot about climate change but then jet off to conferences around the world to discuss global warming, partly caused by carbon emissions from air travel.

She cited the initiative to encourage low-carbon travel options among those attending the recent 2023 annual conference of the European Association for International Education (EAIE) which attracted 7,000 delegates to the event held in Rotterdam.

The #TravelwithCANIE and Reduce Emissions to EAIE 2023 had three main goals:

• Reduce CO2 emissions associated with business travel;

• Create a community of more conscious, low-carbon travelling educators;

• Challenge business as usual and create behavioural change.

McAllister said the original goal was to save 20 tonnes of CO2 emissions by encouraging delegates to go by train or boat instead of flying to Rotterdam and in the end they saved 31.5 tonnes of CO2 by getting at least 140 delegates to abandon air travel on top of those who were already going to travel by train.

“I have heard of one who took the ferry from Ireland and one who cycled from Scotland. Many opted to take the train instead of flying and I took Eurostar [rail service] with a couple of other colleagues in the sector and we had a couple of work meetings on the way,” said McAllister.

Nic Mitchell is a UK-based freelance journalist and PR consultant specialising in European and international higher education. He blogs at www.delacourcommunications.com