Greens welcome Prime Minister’s conversion to wind power but warn much more is needed

6 October 2020

• Green co-leader warns that level of investment must match rhetoric

Green Co-Leader Jonathan Bartley has welcomed the confirmation that the long-running opposition to wind power by the Conservative Party has finally been reversed.

The Prime Minister is today due to promise to power every home in the UK with offshore wind energy by 2030.[1]

Reacting to the news, Bartley said:

“For decades, Greens have been arguing that the UK is ideally placed to become a world leader in onshore and offshore windpower. 

“But we have battled opposition from Conservative MPs locally and nationally as they sheltered their fossil fuel friends. Johnson’s support for wind power suggests that the transition to green energy is now irreversible.

“However, the level of investment proposed by the Prime Minister is nowhere near matching his rhetoric. The £160m for wind power due to be announced today falls far short of the £48bn that analysts say is necessary [2]. The Government needs to set out where this investment will come from. 

“Nor will it provide what we need to power every sector of the economy, most notably transport. The Green Party proposes that 70% of the country’s electricity should be provided by wind by 2030. The Government’s proposals fall far short of this.

“And we need to connect the support for wind farms with an industrial strategy that means the jobs making the blades and towers of the wind farms are made in the UK. An economic and industrial conversion on this scale is what Greens mean by building back better.”