Corbyn pledges support for energy co-ops in environmental manifesto

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has launched an environmental manifesto that outlines his plans for the UK to achieve 65% of energy from renewable sources by 2030. The manifesto commits to placing not-for-profits and co-ops at the heart of Corbyn’s plans for a “publicly run, locally accountable energy system”.

Mr Corbyn pledged to promote over a thousand local energy companies in the next parliament. He also promised to legislate to give community energy co-operatives the right to sell energy directly to the communities they serve.

Highlighting his manifesto in a speech in Nottingham, the Labour leader encouraged the British public to take action to help meet the Paris climate agreement. A Labour government led by Mr Corbyn would also ban fracking, he said.

“We want Britain to be the world’s leading producer of renewable technology. To achieve this, we will accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy, and drive the expansion of the green industries and jobs of the future, using our National Investment Bank to invest in public and community-owned renewable energy. This will deliver clean energy and curb energy bill rises for households; an energy policy for the 60 million, not the Big 6 energy companies,” he said.

Jeremy Corbyn added that he would reverse the Conservative government’s decision to scrap the department for energy and climate change. “The decision to scrap the Government’s energy and climate change department was short-sighted and irresponsible, and has set us back in our efforts to combat climate change. Labour would reinstate the department in our first month of going back into government, as part of our plan to rebuild and transform Britain so that no-one and no community is left behind,” he said at the event in Nottingham.

A Corbyn-led government would also launch a National Home Insulation plan to insulate at least 4 million homes and phase out coal-fired power by 2025. The Labour leader estimates over 300,000 jobs would be created in the renewables sector as a result of these measures.