We have a good climate change policy and we presented a more substantial, better thought-through programme on climate change than any of the other parties at the last election. Little of this received any prominence during the 2019 campaign, partly because we had limited scope to shape a debate which was focussed elsewhere, and partly due to tactical decisions we ourselves made.
But while we definitely don’t need to start from scratch on climate change, there is nonetheless work to do well in advance of setting out the party’s manifesto for the next general election.
First, our policy was written in 2019 and predates Covid, COP26 and the energy crisis. Inevitably it requires updating.
Second it is important that we continue to innovate from a policy perspective. In general it is helpful that 80% of our policy stays the same, so the public gets used to it, so we build an identity that people understand, and so on the doorsteps we know how to communicate it. But for our message to be fresh and inspiring, 20% of it needs to be new.
Third, we should be thinking now which parts of a very comprehensive climate change policy we will be wanting to spotlight in the manifesto.
The Green Liberal Democrats are undertaking a project to update, innovate, spotlight the party’s climate change policy, with some ideas to be presented at the party’s spring conference. Output from this will then feed into the broader process for developing the election manifesto.
As part of the project we are running a simple typeform survey.