Cost of living crisis: We demand a better future

People have had enough. On top of a decade of austerity cuts, rocketing bills are hitting hard, forcing families to make impossible choices.

And the cost of living scandal is also a climate scandal.

The UK is particularly vulnerable to oil and gas price rises. Again, this is because of government choices: refusal to tackle the UK's dependence on fossil gas, alongside deliberate removal of support for home insulation, leaving our homes drafty and expensive to heat.

As gas prices rise, the UK oil and gas industry rakes in billions in extra profit. In February 2023, Shell announced that its annual profits had more than doubled in 2022 to an eye-watering £32 billion, this money coming directly from ordinary households’ soaring energy bills. Meanwhile, British Gas (whose owner Centrica had seen profits increase eightfold) employed contractors to forcibly install prepayment meters in vulnerable households, cutting off their heating.

As Chancellor, Rishi Sunak did eventually give in to popular demand for a windfall tax to return some of these profits to help those struggling with bills. But he consistently blocked any meaningful investment in home insulation, instead going down the most dangerous route possible by incentivising fossil fuel extraction by tax relief on the new 'windfall tax'. 

Over £8 billion of oil and gas projects could be unleashed, doing nothing to help with energy bills, but accelerating climate breakdown. This decision comes six months after the UK hosted COP26 and a year after the stark IEA warning that to avoid the worst impacts, there can be no new investments in oil, gas and coal.

We demand a better future

The UK has some of the oldest, most draughty housing in Europe; so people are paying for heat which goes straight out of the window or through the roof. Insulating homes can cut bills and cut emissions permanently. Without this, immediate financial support for those in need, while important, can only be a sticking plaster.

A comprehensive climate jobs programme could ensure investment in warm, well-insulated homes for all. We can create decent well-paid jobs in communities around the country, helping the local economy in all regions, improving public transport, getting clean air in cities and restoring our wildlife and green spaces.

Together with energy efficiency, a rapid transition to cheap, reliable renewable energy such as wind and solar can reduce our dependence on gas and cut energy bills permanently. Energy can be a public good, not just a profitable trading commodity. As North Sea production winds down, a just transition for oil workers and their communities is essential.

The climate crisis and cost of living crisis can be tackled together, with a focus on public sector jobs which meet needs and cut emissions, alongside a reversal of the damaging austerity cuts which have left ordinary people and public services struggling.

Video: campaigners discuss the linked climate and cost of living crises (April 2022)

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