UK gas prices have leapt by 50% in a day after QatarEnergy stopped production following attacks on its facilities. This underscores the need for a publicly owned Green New Deal to end the UK’s reliance on global markets, address spiralling climate change and lower energy prices.

No-brainer

If the Labour government brought solar panels to just 1% of the UK, it would meet the entire country’s energy needs. Investing in AI and automation may need more power, but there’s clearly solar capacity for that including the possibility of offshore solar.

Energy secretary Ed Miliband has said “our reliance on gas sold on volatile international markets” has risen costs for people and businesses. But instead of piecemeal investment in renewables, a fully-fledged Green New Deal would lower prices and nationalise energy in one fell swoop.

The government is the sovereign issuer of fiat currency – it’s economic constraints are not monetary, but of resources and expertise. A Green New Deal would require labour and could deliver jobs through a training programme. It would also require resources such as silicon and aluminium. But, globally speaking, we have enough resources to power the entire world with renewable energy.

With that in mind, there are no fiscal constraints on a Green New Deal.

Climate issues

In 2025, climate disasters impacted more than 87 million people. Syria faced its worst drought in 37 years, a drought in Kenya impacted the food supply for more than two million people and a drought in Nepal affected the food supply for 1.2 million.

These are just a few examples of how climate change is spiralling. The 2015 Paris climate agreement was to limit global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. That was already surpassed in 2024. We are currently heading for a temperature increase of up to 2.7°C, which would be even more catastrophic.

We need a Green New Deal immediately.

Featured image via unsplash/the Canary

By James Wright

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