LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th November, 2020) UK climate activist and former Extinction Rebellion spokesman Rupert Read called on Wednesday "a drop in the ocean" the 12 billion pound ($15.8 billion) plan outlined by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson for a green industrial revolution, which will include a ban on the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars by 2030 and other measures aimed at meeting net-zero emission targets by 2050.
"This package is �12bn. That sounds a lot: but it is a drop in the ocean compared to the amount of money spent on dealing economically with the coronavirus � and most of that spend has been anything but green," Read told Sputnik.
The ten-point plan unveiled by Johnson on Wednesday seeks to boost the production of offshore wind, hydrogen and nuclear energy, and encourage the use of electric vehicles, public transport, cycling and walking.
The government will also support planes, ships and other difficult-to-decarbonize industries to become greener, build more energy-efficient homes and public facilities, protect and restore the natural environment and develop the cutting-edge technologies needed to achieve the new energy ambitions.
Read said, however, that the package is "tech-heavy," and that such technology is in some cases "unproven."
"It's dubious that they are betting so heavily on carbon capture and on hydrogen; where is the billions of Pounds of support for proven tech such as heat pumps?" he asked.
According to the environmentalist, setting a zero-emission target for "2050 equals death," so what is needed now is to implement an emergency emission reduction program and an emergency shift to a society that prioritizes food, water, and survival more locally.
"We are not getting out of this crisis without changing pretty much everything. Unless we change everything, fast, then civilisation is on course to collapse," Read said.
UK opposition parties have also criticized Johnson's ambitious plan, with Green Party lawmaker Caroline Lucas calling it "incoherent," and the Labour Party claiming it falls short of what is required to tackle climate change.
Ed Miliband, Labour's lawmaker and shadow business, energy and industrial strategy minister, said in a statement that the funding does not "remotely meet" the scale of what is need to tackle the unemployment emergency and climate emergency the United Kingdom is facing, and "pales in comparison to the tens of billions committed by France and Germany."
Last week, the Labour Party published its own plan, in which it called on the government to invest 30 billion pounds in low-carbon sectors over the next 18 months, and support the creation of 400,000 jobs as part of a green economy recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Institute for Public Policy Research has also warned that the UK is "off course" to meet its own zero-carbon ambitions by 2050 and restore nature, and that 33 billion pounds a year in additional annual investment is needed to meet the target.
