Maggie Chapman: Cost of living and climate crises have the same solution

It was not a sincere attempt to fix the crisis they have done so much to fuel. Rather, it was a transparent attempt to distract from Sue Gray’s shocking report and the months of lies and chaos from Downing Street.

For millions of households it was too little too late. Food prices, fuel prices and housing costs are all soaring. Some of the targeted support packages are welcome, but they should have been brought in months ago. Unless things change drastically, and quickly, the pain will get even worse. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has said that inflation could soon hit 14% while the energy regulator, Ofgem, has warned that bills could increase by a further 42% this October. Yesterday’s statement will not change that.

READ MORE: East Renfrewshire: Tories boast about removing SNP from power by backing Labour administration

The PM and the Chancellor are presiding over a social justice crisis that is plunging millions of people into poverty. Huge numbers were already living on the breadline, and, without much more radical action, many more will be thrown into spirals of debt, hunger, arrears and deprivation. The last two years have been punishing and painful for millions, but the fossil fuel giants have never had it so good. BP alone has seen its profits doubling to a staggering £5 billion for the first three months of this year alone. Its chief finance officer, Murray Auchincloss, has said that his company has more money than it knows what to do with.

The Chancellor’s dismal attempt at a windfall tax on their profits will actually make things worse. What he’s delivered is a perverse incentive for oil and gas companies to double down on their climate-busting activities. Big energy companies will actually get a “super deduction” on the windfall tax for every pound they invest in drilling.

People often talk about the cost of living crisis and the climate crisis as if they are distinct and separate crises. They are not. They are the same crisis, and many of the solutions are the same.

For decades, climate activists have called for successive governments to take the meaningful climate action that is needed and invest in green jobs. The oil and gas companies have worked against us every step of the way; spreading misinformation, stoking climate change denial and working in tandem with fossil fuel-addicted governments like the UK to entrench a damaging and unsustainable status quo.

We cannot leave our energy policy in their hands.

With Greens in government in Scotland, we are taking important steps to cut the cost of living. We have increased the Scottish Child payment by over £500 a year for every eligible child, mitigated many of the impacts of the cruel benefit cap and introduced free bus travel for young people.

READ MORE: Channel 4 has perfect response to Nadine Dorries privatisation claim

These are all vital steps that are already making a difference. But they alone are not enough. Using the limited powers that we have to mitigate the worst excesses of the Tories is important, but, if we are to meaningfully tackle the crisis, we need to make big structural changes. We need the power to transform our economy, rebuild our communities and establish a new industrial strategy.

Part of that change has to be a major and immediate investment in renewable energy. Clean energy is essential to tackling the climate crisis, but it will also play a key role in reducing household bills. Renewable energy is the cheapest form of energy. By investing in our own clean, green energy we can recentre our economy, create thousands of jobs and rebuild our communities. It is a transition that Scotland is well placed for. We have 25% of Europe’s total offshore renewable energy potential. But it cannot be a transition that replicates all of our existing inequalities, it must be one that utilises our potential and invests in a greener future for the communities.

As we transition to a renewable powered economy, it is vital that the workers and communities who have been intrinsic to the success of the oil and gas sector are at the forefront of designing our industrial future.

And we must make sure our new energy economy does not link fuel bills to gas prices: it is ludicrous that we are facing higher bills because of the volatility of gas prices, especially when so much of our energy already comes from renewables.

The transition cannot happen without support and fundamental action from governments. That is why, as part of our agreement with the Scottish Government, my Green colleagues and I negotiated a £500 million just transition fund. This will make a big difference, particularly in the North East region that I represent. But we cannot go the full way when we have one hand tied behind our back. The reality is that many of the most urgent changes we need to make are out with our control. As long as we remain part of the UK, many of the biggest decisions will be made by a Tory government that does not care about the pain it is causing.

Every day that Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak and their colleagues remain in power is another day that millions of people will be forced to choose between heating and eating. The longer that they remain in office, the greater the number who will be unable to afford either.

The decisions that are being made today will have ramifications for years to come, which is why I don’t want Boris Johnson to be the one making them.

There is no time to waste. We are living through the biggest squeeze on living standards for a century, and it is the people with the least who are suffering the most.

Millions of people will go to bed cold and hungry tonight, and yesterday’s announcements did nothing to change that. The crisis we are facing is urgent and unprecedented, and the action we take to tackle it must be too.