16:58 Clive Betts (Labour)

That this House has considered a wellbeing economy approach to meeting climate goals.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairing, Mr Betts. I am grateful for the opportunity to debate why the Government should embrace a wellbeing economy if they are serious about meeting their climate goals. Beyond the climate emergency, there are many other reasons to move beyond our current extractive, exploitative and growth-addicted economic system: tackling inequality, stopping the destruction of the natural world and preventing future pandemics, to name just three.

Crucially, the discussions in and around the COP26 summit remind us that those issues cannot be separated and siloed. If we keep decimating the natural world, we will not meet climate goals. If we do not put equality and justice at the heart of climate action, we will not make the shift to a greener and fairer economy. Pandemics, meanwhile, in the words of some of the world’s leading scientists, are

“We urgently need the Government to prioritise the health and wellbeing of people and planet, by pursuing a Wellbeing Economy approach. To deliver a sustainable and equitable recovery, the Treasury should target social and environmental goals, rather than fixating on short-term profit and growth…Two thirds of the public want the Treasury to put wellbeing above growth. Scotland and Wales are already part of the Wellbeing Economy Governments alliance. As host of the COP26 climate summit, the UK Government should build and champion a Wellbeing Economy—at home and globally.”

In turning to the climate imperative for switching from growth to wellbeing as the purpose of our economy, I will start with the science. If we take the global climate goal of reaching net zero by 2050—leaving aside the injustice and inadequacy of that as the UK’s goal—economic growth is still the elephant in the room. During that same 30-year period, between now and 2050, the global economy is set to nearly triple in size. That means three times more production and consumption than we already have each year. It is enough of a challenge to decarbonise an economy the size of the current one in such a short time span; it will be virtually impossible to do it three times over. If we carry on with growth as usual, then halving emissions by 2030 would require that rich countries like the UK decarbonise their economies at a rate of more than 12% per year. That is more than five times faster than the historic rate of decarbonisation, and about three times faster than what scientists project is possible, even under highly optimistic conditions. The most “successful” rich countries are decarbonising at only around 3.4% a year; the performance of average rich countries is much worse. The gap is huge, and however heroic one’s assumptions are about the potential for decoupling growth from carbon emissions—an argument that I am sure we will hear from the Minister—there is no evidence that there can be absolute decoupling in anything like a fast enough timeframe.

The bottom line is that the GDP figures that we are using to measure economic success are also measuring the rate at which we are barrelling towards climate catastrophe. It is little wonder that the voices around us are saying that we need to end our addiction to GDP growth to tackle the climate emergency. Those voices—from climate scientists and environmentalists to economists, health professionals and business leaders—are becoming louder. I want to give two examples.

There was a recent joint report from the Intergovern-mental Panel on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services—an intergovernmental body that assesses biodiversity. The report calls for

To take one example from the business world, former Unilever CEO, Paul Polman, recently wrote about the World Economic Forum’s 2021 global risks report, in which four of the top five risks to our economies are coming from the environment—including climate change and biodiversity loss. He said that

“the estimated $300 billion annual cost of natural disasters caused by ecosystem disruption and climate change”

The wellbeing economy is not just a brilliant idea; it is already being implemented in the UK and around the world. At local, national and international level—beyond Westminster—the green shoots of a new economic paradigm fit for the age of climate emergency are already emerging. In the short time that I have, it is impossible to mention more than a fraction of the researchers, campaigners, practitioners and others who make up the movement for a new economy, designed to serve people and planet—from community wealth building to the Doughnut Economics Action Lab.

The responses are another sign that, far from delivering on the famous “people’s priorities,” as the Government like to say, the Treasury is completely ignoring them by sticking to an outdated and dangerous fixation on economic growth. It is time for global Britain to become a global leader, fit for the age of climate emergency, rather than a laggard in a shift to a wellbeing economy. For the sake of climate justice today and for the lives of future generations, I look forward to the Minister’s response and to working with Members across the House to prove that another economy is not just possible; it is on its way.

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17:11 Kirsty Blackman (SNP)

I am delighted to be called to speak first after the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas), who I thank for securing this debate on the most important issue. I genuinely cannot imagine two more important priorities for an independent Scotland than ensuring that we have action on climate change and that we put wellbeing at the front of everything we do.

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17:14 Rebecca Long-Bailey (Labour)

“Climate change is a message, one that is telling us that many of our culture’s most cherished ideas are no longer viable.”

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17:22 Beth Winter (Cynon Valley) (Lab)

I will share some examples of action that I, alongside local people in my constituency, are taking to put these theories into practice. Earlier this year, I held a series of climate assemblies in Cynon Valley, resulting in a public document that we submitted to COP26. More recently, we received a report that I commissioned from the Bevan Foundation called “Cynon Valley after covid: action for recovery and renewal”. Over 120 people attended our climate assemblies, which covered green jobs, green transport and green energy. It was clear from those discussions that local people understand the need for change and have the appetite and many of the solutions to enable it to happen.

We have many dangerous coal tips, with the risks exacerbated by recent frequent heavy rain and flooding, which are a direct consequence of climate change. Increasingly, people are realising that we cannot improve the wellbeing of people without tackling climate change. Creating a society that meets the needs in my constituency will be challenging, but it is the very reason why I am so passionate about working alongside others to promote and develop a socioeconomic system that puts people and the future of our planet before profit.

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17:26 Claire Hanna (SDLP)

As with addressing climate breakdown, we know what has to be done; we just have to decide to do it. While it is tempting and valid to protest and rage against the machine on this, it is very encouraging to see some of the practical initiatives that people are taking across their constituencies and in other regions. I pay tribute to groups such as the Carryduff Regeneration Forum, the Conservation Volunteers, Open Ormeau, Repair Café Belfast and many others in my own corner of the world who are showing what is possible when people try to slow down, clean up and build cohesion, and what is possible through care, education and creativity.

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17:31 Rachael Maskell (Labour)

Leaving Glasgow with our planet heating at a dangerous rate and the failure to slam the brakes on climate destruction, the Government were given a year to reset. COP27 will be their reckoning. Right now, the global south is paying for the exploits of the global north, and this generation is paying for centuries of colonialisation, industrialisation and exploitation, as people and planet were exploited, minerals, crops and humanity were exploited, and carbon and hope were burnt. In this generation, it is our duty to restore. We have no choice.

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17:35 Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)

That is particularly important in the context of the conference of the parties and meeting climate goals, as the title of the debate suggests, because at the end of the day the costs of climate change will have to be paid for. It is a bit like covid-19: we are going to have to pay for climate change. We can either pay for it now by taking action to mitigate the damage that has already been done and adapting to the damage that is coming down the line, or we can pay for it later, once our cities are under water and there is even greater human displacement because parts of the world become unliveable.

Scotland is buying into this. We can go further. We have heard about the relationship that has been established with the Greens, which I warmly welcome. My hon. Friend the Member for Aberdeen North (Kirsty Blackman) talked about what Scotland could achieve if we were an independent country and had all the powers at our hands. Nevertheless, the national performance framework has been in place since 2007. There are 81 different national indicators that reflect the values and aspirations of the people of Scotland. They are aligned with the sustainable development goals of the United Nations and are there to help to track progress in reducing inequality. Scotland was a founding member of the Wellbeing Economy Governments partnership, which was founded in 2018 and continues to grow. It met during COP26 precisely to progress those goals.

That is why I emphasise to the Government that this is not ideological per se: it is a challenge to both the traditional left and the traditional right. If we agree that the aim is to reduce inequality, to improve wellbeing and to meet climate goals, we can have a debate about how best to do that. Perhaps there is an argument for the free market, for the leveraging of capital, for innovation and entrepreneurship; perhaps there is a greater role for the state and the investment of public money, goods and resources. That is the clash of ideas, but this is changing the goal that we are heading for, because infinite growth on a finite planet simply is not possible.

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17:41 Pat McFadden (Labour)

This debate also forces a discussion on not only the costs of acting, but the costs of not acting. The Office for Budget Responsibility report earlier this year was very clear on that point. If we delay taking the necessary action on the transition to net zero, it will not make the costs disappear. Instead, it will increase them in the longer run, adding to our debt and our deficit, and loading further costs on the taxpayer. That is why Labour announced at our recent conference a commitment to investing in this transition year on year for a decade.

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17:46 Helen Whately (Conservative)

I hope that it will not come as a surprise to hon. Members that this is a subject that the Government take seriously and that, as a Treasury Minister, I care about deeply. Much of what we are doing in fact aligns with a wellbeing economy approach. More than that, as a Government, we are clear that the wellbeing of our citizens and the natural environment is a priority as we work to deliver our world-leading climate goals.

Clearly a big part of our work in this area relates to efforts to tackle climate change by achieving net zero, which is part of my brief at the Treasury. The UK’s comprehensive legislative framework for tackling climate change, which revolves around setting carbon budgets, shows clearly how factors other than GDP sit centrally within our economic policy. That approach has been a success. Between 1990 and 2019, under Governments of different colours, the UK has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 44%, faster than any other country in the G20. Since March 2021, the Government have committed to invest £30 billion in our green industrial revolution. That spending, along with action on regulation and green finance initiatives, is about keeping the UK on track for our carbon budgets, establishing our long-term pathway towards net zero by 2050.

There has been widespread agreement in the Chamber about acting sooner rather than later on climate change, and specifically acting to prevent future climate change and investing to that end. I agree with the hon. Member for Stirling (Alyn Smith) that it is not a choice of either growth or the environment—it is not either/or but both. Our transition to net zero is a growth opportunity in itself. We expect to see hundreds of thousands of new jobs in the green economy. Not all growth includes consuming finite resources; doing things better can also boost GDP.

On the specifics of the debate, our objective pure and simple is an approach that gives us the very best chance of meeting our climate goals in a way that maximises wellbeing for all—in fact, overall improving the wellbeing of the population of this country. We are thinking differently. We are acting differently. We are investing differently. We do indeed want to do that collaboratively, including by working closely with hon. Members across the House.

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17:54 Caroline Lucas

I appreciate the Minister’s warm words, but there is a vast gap between what she is saying and what the Government are doing. Let us take one simple way of looking at this. A report comes out from the Treasury called “HM Treasury Outcome Delivery Plan”. It is the key departmental document setting out priority outcomes and activities. It has just one paltry mention of climate and just one reference to decarbonisation. It makes no mention at all of biodiversity, but it has 17 mentions of growth. The Government are still subsidising fossil fuels annually to the tune of around £12 billion, and there is still on the statute book a duty to maximise the economic recovery of oil and gas.

That this House has considered a wellbeing economy approach to meeting climate goals.

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