Ed Miliband appointed Energy Security & Net Zero Secretary

Reacting to the appointment of Ed Miliband as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Jamie Peters, climate coordinator at Friends of the Earth, said:

"Since he first helped steer the Climate Change Act through parliament almost 20 years ago, Ed Miliband has been a strong advocate for ambitious action to avert the worst of climate breakdown.

"After Friends of the Earth’s landmark High Court win against the last government’s unlawful climate plan, one of his first tasks will be to rewrite this crucial strategy to ensure it delivers bold action to meet the UK’s climate targets, including to reduce carbon emissions by more than two-thirds by 2030.

“With a strong mandate for change, and record results for the Lib Dems and Greens who ran on platforms for ambitious climate action, Mr Miliband has a historic opportunity to deliver strong green policies that will improve our lives now and protect the planet for future generations. Achieving the UK’s climate and nature goals will make our homes warmer, air cleaner, and revive our broken economy with hundreds of thousands of new jobs in emerging clean industries."

ENDS

Notes to editors: 

1. In a scoring of political party manifestos carried out jointly by Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace UK ahead of the general election, the Labour Party scored 20.5 points out of 40 for their green plans. Though this was four times higher than the Conservatives’ offering, both the Green Party and Liberal Democrats scored far higher. To read the full analysis please visit: https://friendsoftheearth.uk/system-change/general-election-2024-manifestos-final-scores

2. ELECTION: Labour's green plans score 4x higher than Tories'