LONDON — It will take a “Herculean effort” for the Labour Party to reach its key net-zero target of clean power by 2030 if it wins power, the U.K. government’s chief climate adviser has said.
Chris Stark, who steps down as CEO of the Climate Change Committee (CCC) on Friday after six years in charge, told POLITICO the opposition party’s clean power goal is achievable — but it will need to “throw everything at it” if elected.
Labour has pledged to clean up the power system by ensuring electricity production in Britain no longer contributes to greenhouse gas emissions by the end of this decade. Labour Leader Keir Starmer — on course for No.10 Downing Street on current polling — is sticking by the commitment, even as the party has watered down its more ambitious green spending plans.
“I’m not going to chip [away at] it yet,” Stark said in an interview Thursday, referring to the 2030 pledge. “I think it could be done. … It would take [a] Herculean effort to do it, and I think you’re going to see Labour try and define it more accurately as well.”
