#net-zero-2050

#net-zero-2050

The stillness of a bitterly cold afternoon is broken by the swish, swoosh of three 50m-long blades, adjusting automatically to the tiniest shift in the direction of a dependable westerly wind that keeps them turning day and night. From here, up on a mountain ridge in rural Fukushima prefecture in north-east Japan, the wind turbines stretch for miles. In the distance, you can see the outlines of the reactor buildings at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which is in the slow process of being decommissioned at a cost so far of $35bn (26bn) almost 15 years since it suffered a triple meltdown after being struck by a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and a 15m (49ft) tsunami.

It now falls to Labour to set out a viable blueprint to meet the targets, so the carbon budget and growth delivery plan will encompass all aspects of net zero, including transport, housing, industry, food and farming. The plan is unlikely to have many sweeping new policies but it will have to show in detail how existing policies will work, and touch on politically sensitive issues such as how people may have to change their behaviour to reduce emissions.