New Governments Tackle Climate Change Urgently
New Governments Tackle Climate Change Urgently: The UK Labour Party has made aggressive pacts on climate change, but a year after a landslide win, little has been accomplished. The new Trump administration has on the other hand torn down most of the progress in the US on climate issues and reinvented the country’s role in international climate governance.
Quelling climate change is, for the most part, a top-down exercise. Even with the loud cries of civil society organizations and businesses, it is only through proper climate policy that the kind of change that our planet needs so much could ever be achieved. Climate action is political – the ones leading a country usually pursue climate change more or less aggressively.
And when election time draws near, environmental issues are, more often than not, drowned by more pressing issues like healthcare, housing, cost of living, and job security. That is where the climate conundrum is: future generations will have to pay if we do not act today.
2024 was one of those years when several incumbent leaders were thrown out of power by an electorate shaken by soaring inflation and an even crazier geopolitical situation. In the likes of the UK, Germany, and the US, climate change policies continue to be a hot political issue. Meanwhile, there is a countrywide consensus among nations such as Singapore, Denmark, and New Zealand to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero with a wide frame of perspective, even in their political divisions.
In this article, howehow.com examines the way that some of the political parties in the present are answering the cry for more action on climate change.
United Kingdom New Governments Tackle Climate Change Urgently
The Labour Party that had gathered the biggest majority since 1992 at the previous year’s election chose to be the climate-forward option, promising to transform Britain into a clean energy superpower.
Their ‘Clean Power by 2030’ promise to double onshore wind, triple solar, and quadruple offshore wind capacity in the next five years is, without doubt, ambitious. Besides, the party will ramp up public and private investment in emerging technologies such as hydrogen, tidal and wave energy, and long-term storage of energy, and prolong nuclear capacities. Most importantly, the government isn’t putting climate action as a sacrifice or cost. By its Green Prosperity Plan, the party is associating decarbonization with economic revitalisation and job creation, revealing that climate action must – and can – support day in day out livelihoods.
In reality, it means upgrading millions of homes with improved insulation and low-carbon heating so they pay less for their energy bills. Investing in local production of energy to trap economic value in the communities, and creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs in clean energy infrastructure, retrofitting homes, and supply chains industries.
The party also brought a bill to establish the Great British Energy, a publicly-owned clean energy firm, based in Scotland. The aim of the proposal is not merely to speed up the development of renewable energy but also to make sure that the economic benefits of the clean energy transition are distributed among the public and not largely capitalized by private corporations exclusively.
The statement of intent about the Green Prosperity Plan and the Great British Energy may be a sign, but doing it will be the real test. How these grandiose promises will be made verifiable in terms of results, such as improved homes, new jobs, and increased clean energy capacity, will establish the credibility of the mandate of Labour’s climate forward.
Canada’s New Governments Tackle Climate Change Urgently
A month ago, Canada came out to overwhelmingly reject conservative ideologies in favour of more Liberal one, which elected former central banker and UN climate envoy Mark Carney.
The election has reignited focus back to the country’s dual track climate strategy. Carney, as the new leader of the Liberal Party, has vowed to make Canada a “energy superpower” – not only in terms of clean energy, but also in the case of traditional fossil fuels.
“We are going to vigorously pursue projects that are in the national interest, to secure the energy of Canada, diversify our trade, and make us more competitive in the long term – all while reducing our emissions,” said Carney.
Instead, Carney’s government is not pushing for a radical phase-out of fossil fuels, but is committed to looking for technological solutions to decarbonise the existing systems. This would involve massive investment into carbon removal and storage, an increase in electric vehicle infrastructure, and a massive nationwide electric transmission grid to more effectively link the many renewable power sources of Canada’s sizeable geography. These are efforts that strive to reduce emissions but retain the competitiveness of the economy and the reliability of the energy.
At the same time, Carney has taken measures to rethink climate policy instruments – from replacing the consumer-facing carbon tax with green incentives, in an attempt to make climate action more politically acceptable and economically inclusive. Yet, the industrial carbon price is in place, which supports Canada’s emissions responsibility at the level of the enterprise.
“We are happy to see that our new prime minister actually at least promised to strengthen it, and call on him to keep and strengthen other key climate protection and biodiversity protection policies,” Keith Stewart, Greenpeace Canada senior energy strategist, said in a statement.
This direction is in sharp contrast to the opposing Conservative Party, which has promised to repeal climate change regulations, reverse clean energy investment, and increase oil and gas output and exports.
Overcoming domestic political uncertainty and complications regarding the trade relations, mostly with the US, Carney’s government is still forging on with its 2030 Emissions Reduction Plannaiming to achieve a 60% reduction based on the 2005 figures. Although federal leadership will be one of the determinants of whether this plan works or not, some things will also require cooperation with provinces, particularly energy-intensive regions such as Alberta, and whether this country can manage to attract investments into green emerging sectors.
United States of America New Governments Tackle Climate Change Urgently
It has only taken 100 days into his inauguration for US President Donald Trump has overturn years of real progress on climate, while changing the US’s role in the global battle against climate change. From abandoning the Paris Agreement to reducing the funds for climate transition in developing states, the current administration’s stance heavily favors the use of fossil fuels and deregulation.
This regression highlights an important weakness of the US system: the party-colour swing of climate policy. Each new administration comes with the risk of enormous changes – both in climate policy and in social, immigration, and foreign affairs. Democratically charged gargantuan plans on climate, such as the Inflation Reduction Act and climate-linked industrial policy, have been dismantled or delayed by Republican administrations who perceive climate regulations as a blockage and not an opportunity.
Consequently, the US, which is one of the largest emitters of carbon and innovation engine, is an untrusted partner in the world stage regarding long-term climate pledges. This paradox has repercussion effects: it undercuts multilateral climate bargaining, prevents investor confidence in green sectors and makes life more difficult for other countries that try to coordinate trade or carbon border taxation with the policies of the US.
The US case depicts an unpalatable fact: If politics can empower climate action, then it can equally disempower the same. In a democracy that is as polarized as this, the climate agenda is exposed to election cycles, party ideologies, and the power of cozying fossil fuel lobbies. The way forward is more than the policy; it calls for deeper institutional reforms, bipartisan consensus-building, or even a climate-resilient governance apparatus that can resist the electoral swings.
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Final Thoughts About New Governments Tackle Climate Change Urgently
The difference between the countries that have stable climate policies and the countries that have fluctuating, partisan policies sheds a harsh light on a reality: politics can speed up or slow down the transition to a sustainable future. When political leadership brings climate action together with job security, energy resilience, and cost-of-living boosts, the policy becomes a down-to-earth public good – one that voters are more inclined to approve.
Eventually, the climate crisis becomes the ultimate test of political will and institutional resolve, forcing political leaders and institutions to stand firm in their long-term climate commitments while overcoming electoral cycles, economic shock, and geopolitical shock.
