No time to waste
Labour must develop its own version of eco-socialism if it is to tackle the climate crisis, argue Lisa Trickett and Bill Eyres
The heatwaves, droughts and wildfires across the UK and Europe this summer have been a turning point in people’s understanding of what climate change looks like. The terrifying fires, the persistent heat, the parched landscapes and wrecked crops of our formerly green and pleasant land have brought home that global heating is not some ethereal scientific concept but a meaningful threat to our livelihoods and lives.
Labour is well positioned to respond to these concerns by accelerating delivery on climate action, building on what we have already achieved in clean energy in our first two years. However, speculation that the government will approve licenses for the Jackdaw and Rosebank gas and oilfields has highlighted a potentially dangerous disconnect with the public mood. There is a real danger that we neglect our climate leadership in the face of the cost-of-living crisis.
Labour needs to clearly link tackling rising living costs with climate action to strengthen environmental, energy and food security. The danger is that we wilt in the face of political opportunism by the right by approving new oilfields like Rosebank – which will have no impact on the price of energy in the UK – or (as Starmer and Reeves did) by utilising rhetoric that characterises environmental regulations and wildlife protection as ‘blockers’ to the UK’s economic and infrastructural growth.
The underlying problem is the ubiquity of the neoliberal belief that any type of growth, even at the expense of the environment or social inclusion, is worthwhile. In reality, the picture is much more complicated. Miatta Fahnbulleh MP, now the energy secretary, highlighted the problems with this worldview in the summer edition of the Fabian Review: “For too long, policymakers assumed that economic growth alone would raise prosperity for everyone. While growth delivered gains for some, the benefits have been distributed unevenly, deepening inequality, increasing economic precarity and weakening our social contract.” She emphasised that “the transition to a low-carbon economy presents a generational opportunity”.
The Socialist Environment and Resources Association (Sera) agrees with the secretary of state and urges the government to seize this opportunity and root it in a strengthened political philosophy of ‘ecosocialism’. The central insight of eco-socialism is that social justice and tackling the environmental crisis are interconnected. The environmental and Labour movements are stronger when they align their criticisms of neoliberalism with a clear, united plan for an alternative type of society with new models of production (eg Labour’s clean energy strategy), democratic engagement to ensure buy-in for a managed transition (eg through deeper devolution) and strong public control over essentials like water. Critically, eco-socialism argues against the relentless pursuit of production and growth for its own sake on the basis it will neither reduce the extremes of inequality in society or reverse our nature and climate crisis.
Eco-socialism therefore aligns well with Manchesterism while emphasising that environmental protection must not be pitted against priorities such as the cost-of-living or devolution. Instead, it should be recognised as integral to the success of these agendas. We need to show how climate action benefits people, not big business or vested interests. Initiatives like the Local Power Plan, which is backed by £1bn of funding, have the potential deliver direct benefits to communities. The key is to demonstrate that practical environmental action can benefit every area through cheaper energy, green jobs, greater access to nature and a stronger connection to place – or what we could literally dub “green growth” in every postcode
This case must be made convincingly at every level from grassroots organising to national government. The severe effects of climate change are already with us. Labour must respond with urgency by resetting the national conversation, helping the public to reengage not just with the threats but with the opportunities. In his 1983 Sera lecture on eco-socialism, the late Raymond Williams foresaw this challenge: “We are bound to encounter the usual human reluctance to change, and we must accept the fact that the changes will be very considerable and will have to be negotiated rather than imposed. But the case for this new kind of enlightened, materially conscious, international socialism is potentially very strong.”
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