What the manifestos say about ESG - Environment, Social and Governance

Ever wondered what the party manifestos actually say?? Ever tried to read them? It’s a real challenge!

I’ve read (well skimmed) through literally hundreds of pages of policies in the manifestos to save you the trouble!?

I’ve tried to extract directly the words used by the five main UK parties to describe their policies as they relate to business and classify them under headings to help you compare them

As you’d probably understand doing this fairly has been tricky. Extracting actual commitments and plans from hype, opinions and vague intentions isn’t always easy and neither is identifying and classifying the business policies. So please accept that I’ve had to make judgements even in doing that!

ESG - Environment, Social and Governance

Labour

Set up Great British Energy, a publicly-owned clean power company, to cut bills for good and boost energy security, paid for by a windfall tax on oil and gas giants.

Make Britain a clean energy superpower to cut bills, create jobs and deliver security with cheaper, zero-carbon electricity by 2030, accelerating to net zero.

We will end the link between access to ministers and an inside track for public contracts. We will appoint a fixed-term Covid Corruption Commissioner and use every means possible to recoup public money lost in pandemic-related fraud and from contracts which have not delivered. And we will not tolerate fraud or waste anywhere, whether in social security or the excessive use of consultants.

Labour will support the transition to electric vehicles by accelerating the roll out of charge points, giving certainty to manufacturers by restoring the phase-out date of 2030 for new cars with internal combustion engines, and supporting buyers of second-hand electric cars by standardising the information supplied on the condition of batteries.?

We will shape markets and use public investment to crowd in private funding. At the heart of our approach will be our Green Prosperity Plan where, in partnership with business through our National Wealth Fund, we will invest in the industries of the future.?

Our plan will create 650,000 jobs across the country by 2030.?

Labour will? work with the private sector to double onshore wind, triple solar power, and quadruple offshore wind by? 2030. We will invest in carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and marine energy, and ensure we have the long-term energy storage our country needs.?

A new Energy Independence Act will establish the framework for Labour’s energy and climate policies.

We will ensure the long-term security of the nuclear power sector, extending the lifetime of existing plants, and we will get Hinkley Point C over the line. New nuclear power stations, such as Sizewell C, and Small Modular Reactors, will play an important role in helping the UK achieve energy security and clean power while securing thousands of good, skilled jobs.

?Labour will maintain a strategic reserve of gas power stations to guarantee security of supply.?

We will ensure a phased and responsible transition in the North Sea that recognises the proud history of our offshore industry and the brilliance of its workforce, particularly in Scotland and the North East of England, and the ongoing role of oil and gas in our energy mix.?

We will embrace the future of energy production and storage which will make use of existing offshore infrastructure and the skills of our offshore workforce.?

Labour will not revoke existing licences and we will partner with business and workers to manage our existing fields for the entirety of their lifespan.?

We will not issue new licences to explore new fields because they will not take a penny off bills, cannot make us energy secure, and will only accelerate the worsening climate crisis. In addition, we will not grant new coal licences and will ban fracking for good.?

Labour will close the loopholes in the windfall tax on oil and gas companies. Companies have benefitted from enormous profits not because of their ingenuity or investment, but because of an energy shock which raised prices for British families.?

Labour will extend the sunset clause in the Energy Profits Levy until the end of the next parliament. We will also increase the rate of the levy by three percentage points, as well as removing the unjustifiably generous investment allowances.?

Labour will retain the Energy Security Investment Mechanism.?

To drive forward investment in clean, home-grown energy production, Labour will create a new? publicly-owned company, Great British Energy. It will be owned by the British people and deliver power back to the British people.

Great British Energy will partner with industry and trade unions to deliver clean power by co-investing in leading technologies; will help support capital-intensive projects; and will deploy local energy production to benefit communities across the country.?

Labour will capitalise Great British Energy with? ￡8.3 billion, over the next parliament. The company will create jobs and build supply chains in? every corner of the UK. Scotland will be the powerhouse of our clean energy mission, with Great British Energy headquartered there.

Local power generation is an essential part of the energy mix and reduces pressures on the transmission grid. Labour will deploy more distributed production capacity through our Local Power Plan.?

Great British Energy will partner with energy companies, local authorities, and co-operatives to install thousands of clean power projects, through a combination of onshore wind, solar, and hydropower projects. We will invite communities to come forward with projects, and work with local leaders and devolved governments to ensure local people benefit directly from this energy production.

Labour will ensure a much tougher system of regulation that puts consumers first and attracts the investment needed to cut bills. Too much of the burden of the bill is on standing charges and we will work with the regulator to reduce them. We will strengthen the regulator to ensure it can hold companies to account for wrongdoing, require higher standards of performance, and ensure there is automatic customer compensation for failure.

Labour will work with industry to upgrade our national transmission infrastructure and rewire Britain.?

Labour is determined that we will create new high-quality jobs, working with business and trade unions, as we manage the transition. We will rebuild supply chains at home.?

Labour’s National Wealth Fund will directly invest in? ports, hydrogen and industrial clusters in every corner of the country. We will also secure the future of Britain’s automotive and steel industries.

We will reward clean energy developers with a British? Jobs Bonus, allocating up to ￡500 million per year from 2026, to incentivise firms who offer good jobs, terms and conditions and build their manufacturing supply chains in our industrial heartlands, coastal areas, and energy communities.

Labour will end the injustice of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme. We will review the unfair surplus arrangements and transfer the Investment Reserve Fund back to members, so that the mineworkers who powered our country receive a fairer pension.

Labour will also work with the private sector, including banks and building societies, to provide further private finance to accelerate home upgrades and low carbon heating.?

Britain’s world-leading financial services industry has a major role to play in mobilising trillions of pounds in private capital to address the greatest long-term? challenge of our age. Labour will make the UK the green finance capital of the world, mandating UK-regulated financial institutions – including banks, asset managers, pension funds, and insurers – and FTSE 100 companies to develop and implement credible transition plans that align with the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement.

Conservative

Treble our offshore wind capacity, to deliver low-cost, home-grown energy and support the development of vibrant industrial clusters in places like the North East of England, Scotland and Wales.?

Build the first two carbon capture and storage clusters, based across North Wales and, the North West of England and Teesside and the Humber, cutting carbon and progress the second tranche of projects in Aberdeenshire and the Humber.?

Invest ￡1.1 billion into the Green Industries Growth Accelerator to support British manufacturing capabilities, boost supply chains and ensure our energy transition is made in Britain.

Scale up nuclear power, building on our work establishing Great British Nuclear.?

Within the first 100 days of the next Parliament, we will approve two new fleets of Small Modular Reactors to rapidly expand nuclear power, create well-paid, high-skilled jobs and deliver cheaper, cleaner and more secure energy.

We will halve the time it takes for new nuclear reactors to be approved, by allowing regulators to assess projects while designs are being finalised, improving join-up with overseas regulators assessing the same technology and speeding up planning and environmental approvals.

Deliver a new gigawatt power plant at Wylfa in North Wales and work with industry to deliver existing projects at Hinkley Point and Sizewell.

We will ensure offshore cables help reduce the amount of onshore infrastructure, such as substations, that we need to build.

As we achieve this transition to net zero, we will take steps to ensure the technology and infrastructure is made here in the UK. We will provide a bonus, on top of contract payments that support offshore wind, to reward energy firms that invest in manufacturing in the most disadvantaged places in the UK or invest in more sustainable supply chains, creating more good jobs as we get more energy from renewables.?

We will continue working to support production in Scunthorpe and the North East of England, securing the future of steelmaking across the UK.?

We will implement a new import carbon pricing mechanism by 2027 to ensure that imports of iron, steel, aluminium, ceramics and cement from countries with a lower or no carbon price will face a comparable carbon price to those goods produced in the UK. This will reduce the risk of industry being displaced to other countries which aren’t taking action on climate change.

Lib Dem

Liberal Democrats will invest in renewable power and home insulation to drive a strong economic recovery, bring down energy bills and create clean, secure, well-paid new jobs.

Invest in green infrastructure, innovation and skills to boost economic growth and create good jobs and prosperity in every nation and region of the UK, while tackling the climate crisis.

Increase investment in green infrastructure, including renewable energy and zero-carbon transport, industry and housing, and give a clearer zero-carbon remit to the UK Infrastructure Bank.

Introduce a general duty of care for the environment and human rights in business operations and supply chains.

Support British industry to cut emissions while holding businesses to account for their role in tackling climate change

Ensure the UK has the highest possible standards of environmental, health,labour and consumer protection, at least matching EU standards.

Placing human rights, labour and environmental standards and protection at the heart of international trade deals.

Cut resource use, waste and pollution by accelerating the transition to a more circular economy that maximises the recovery, reuse, recycling and remanufacturing of products. This will cut costs for consumers and businesses, reduce exposure to volatile commodity prices, protect the environment and create new jobs and enterprises.

Reform ?duciary duty and company purpose rules to ensure that all large companies have a formal statement of corporate purpose, including considerations such as employee welfare, environmental standards, community bene?t and ethical practice, alongside bene?t to shareholders, and that they report formally on the wider impact of the business on society and the environment.

Set out a clear and stable roadmap to net zero, repairing the damage done by Conservative U-turns and giving businesses the con?dence to invest.

Expand the market for climate-friendly products and services with steadily higher criteria in public procurement policy.

Implement the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism for high-emission products, protecting UK businesses from unfair competition.

Reduce emissions from industrial processes by supporting carbon capture and storage and new low-carbon processes for cement and steel production.

Provide more advice to companies on cutting emissions, supporting the development of regional industrial clusters for zero-carbon innovation and increasing the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund.

Invest in research and development to make the UK the world leader zero-carbon ?ight, and take steps to reduce demand for ?ying.?

Green

A ￡40bn investment per year in the shift to a green economy over the course of the next Parliament.

A carbon tax to drive fossil fuels out of our economy and raise money to invest in the green transition.

A share of community ownership in local sustainable energy infrastructure such as wind farms.

￡2bn per year in grant funding for local authorities to help businesses decarbonise.

Delivery of 80GW of offshore wind, 53 GW of onshore wind, and 100 GW of solar by 2035.

Investment in energy storage capacity and more efficient electricity distribution.

Cancel recent fossil fuel licences such as for Rosebank and stop all new fossil fuel extraction projects in the UK.

Remove all oil and gas subsidies.

A frequent-flyer levy. A ban on domestic flights for journeys that would take less than three hours by train.A halt to the expansion of new airport capacity.

Phase-out of nuclear energy.

Reform

Scrap Net Zero objectives.?

Scrap energy levies to slash energy bills and save each household ￡500 per year. Unlock Britain’s vast oil and gas reserves to beat? the cost of living crisis and unleash real economic growth.

Scrap Annual ￡10 Billion of Renewable Energy Subsidies. Achieve this through equivalent taxes on them.?

Start fast-track licences of North Sea gas and oil.?

Grant shale gas licences on test sites for 2 years. Enable major production when safety is proven, ? with local compensation schemes.?

Fast-track clean nuclear energy with new Small Modular Reactors, built in Britain. Increase and incentivise ethical UK lithium mining for electric batteries, combined cycle gas turbines, clean synthetic fuel, tidal power and explore clean coal mining.

Thanks for reading. If it was useful make sure you comment or share.?

Don't miss yesterdays article on Industrial Strategy, Manufacturing, Technology and AI and subscribe to see Monday's edition on Investment, Innovation, Regulation and Productivity.

Or ring the bell on my profile for more actionable insights and practical tips, tools, and shortcuts on business leadership.