In the lead up to the 2015 General Election, Unda reviews the major political parties’ manifestos with particular focus on how they attend to address the issue of flooding if they come to power.  Pledges concerning their new build programmes over the coming years are also of concern when addressing the issue of flooding.  Monday 13^th April saw Ed Miliband launch Labour’s manifesto.

 

 

How does The Labour Party’s intend to address the issue of flooding?

The key points of the manifesto relating to flooding include;

• A climate change adaptation programme and prioritised investment in flood prevention
• Ensure at least 200,000 new homes a year are built by 2020.
• Push for an ambitious target in Paris to get to goal of net zero global emissions in the second half of this century.

 

Election 2015: The Labour Party Manifesto pledges on Flooding. Extracts from the Manifesto:

Protecting our environment – pg. 56
We feel passionately about our local landscapes, our open spaces and wildlife. Land and nature are part of our common home and inheritance, and they contribute to our sense of identity. In a globalised world, our local environment provides us with a sense of place and belonging.

As we set out in more detail later on, a Labour Government will play a leading global role in tackling climate change. However, it will not be enough to simply mitigate the threat of climate change. We must adapt to its damaging effects, which are impacting on us today. We will produce an ambitious adaptation programme, and the new Infrastructure Commission will prioritise investment in flood prevention. We will deal with the problems of air pollution by giving local authorities the powers they need, backed up by a national framework.

 

Climate change – pg. 79

We will put climate change at the heart of our foreign policy. As the terrible impact of the floods in Britain showed last year, climate change is now an issue of national, as well as global security……

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has made clear that if the world is going to hold warming below two degrees (the internationally agreed goal), global emissions need to peak in around 2020, and then decline rapidly to reach net zero emissions by the second half of this century. The weaker the action now, the more rapid and costly the reductions will need to be later.

The effects of climate change hit the poor, the hardest. If we do not tackle climate change, millions of people will fall into poverty.  We will expand the role of the Department of International Development to mitigate the risks of a changing climate, and support sustainable livelihoods for the world’s poorest people.

We want an ambitious agreement on climate change at the UNFCCC conference in Paris, in December. We will make the case for ambitious emissions targets for all countries, strengthened every five years on the basis of a scientific assessment of the progress towards the below two degree goal.

 

Building new homes – pg. 45

Britain is in the midst of the biggest housing crisis in a generation, with the lowest levels of house building in peacetime since the 1920s. Young people have been priced out of home ownership. Fewer affordable homes are being built, homelessness is rising, and millions face insecurity and poor standards in the private rented sector.

Everyone should be able to live in a secure home, whether they rent or buy. We will make sure that at least 200,000 homes a year get built by 2020 – almost double the current level – by implementing the recommendations of the Lyons Review. It is only by building more homes that people’s aspiration for home ownership will be fulfilled.

Find out more about Flood Risk Assessment.