The climate crisis and the cost-of-living crisis are inextricably linked. The climate crisis is a threat multiplier – it makes existing problems far worse. Extreme weather, such as drought and flooding, affects food production, leading to food shortages and higher prices. These disproportionately affects those on low incomes, leading to increased inequality.
UK households are the worst hit in Western Europe by rising energy costs due to the UK’s heavy reliance on gas to produce electricity and to heat buildings.1 A situation exacerbated by the lack of sufficient insulation in homes, meaning higher energy use and bigger costs. This dependence upon fossil fuels is driving up bills and accelerating climate impacts worldwide.
Energy solutions
Drilling for new oil and gas in the North Sea will do little to help reduce our energy bills in the short term, as oil and gas fields take several years to develop. Besides, it is not guaranteed that North Sea oil and gas will end up in the UK, much is exported by producers to sell on the global market.
Fracking, similarly, could take years to significantly increase gas production and is unproven in the UK. The process of fracking requires huge amounts of water and has long been linked with serious environmental concerns – methane leaks; potential groundwater contamination; and earth tremors – as well as negatively impacting local communities.
Increasing emissions from burning more fossil fuels will only serve to worsen the climate crisis, and thus increase risks to those most vulnerable and marginalised in our societies. This year we have experienced temperatures topping 40oC in the UK, with the three-day heatwave July 17th-19th causing around 948 excess deaths. Countries of the global South are increasingly impacted by drought, famine and flooding, most recently Pakistan where ‘monster monsoon’ floods have washed away 45% of cropland and affected 33 million people.
‘Pakistan and other developing countries are paying a horrific price for the intransigence of big emitters that continue to bet on fossil fuels…I am issuing a global appeal. Stop the madness. Invest in renewable energy now. End the war with nature.’
Antonio Guterres, United Nations Secretary General, September 2022
Renewables take a shorter time to build, are now up to nine times cheaper than gas.2 and are more stable in price, as they are not exposed to the volatility of global markets.
‘There is no sliver of a cigarette paper between the fact that if you want to deal with climate change and you want to deal with the cost-of-living crisis and oil and gas prices you have to do the same things – renewable energy and energy efficiency – they are the answers.
Lord Deben, Chairman, Climate Change Committee, ‘Today’ Radio 4, 7th September 2022
A new study by Stanford University3 has found that the world can switch to 100% renewable energy and the upfront costs could be repaid by savings within six years.
Given the economic, environmental and health benefits of clean renewable energy – wind, wave/tidal and solar – it is not surprising that it enjoys widespread British public support (78%+) too!
Jakki Phillips
1 Energy crisis: UK households worst hit in western Europe, finds IMF (The Guardian 01.09.22)
2 Analysis: Record-low price for UK offshore wind is nine times cheaper than gas (Carbon Brief 08.07.22)
3 ‘Low-cost solutions to global warming, air pollution, and energy insecurity for 145 countries’ Energy Environ. Sci., 2022, 15, 3343
For help and advice with energy bills visit www.ofgem.gov.uk and for energy saving measures visit www.actionsurrey.org