A large and very homemade “patchwork quilt” made by members of Ealing Friends of the Earth won’t go any way to helping people keep warm this winter. But it is part of a national Friends of the Earthcampaign #UnitedForWarmHomes which is asking the government to give urgent support to people dealing with high energy bills.
Housing makes up nearly a third of all the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions. In 2006 the UK set out a policy to make all new homes carbon neutral through higher energy efficiency standards and the production of renewable energy. But the scheme was scrapped in 2015 to “reduce net regulations on housebuilders.”
In September this year the government launched the Great British Insulation Scheme. But according to fuel poverty charity National Energy Action the scheme would take 190 years to help people living in the most draughty homes in Britain and another 100 years for all fuel-poor homes to be improved.
The House of Commons Committee on Accelerating the Transition from Fossil Fuels and Securing Energy Supplies in January 2023 noted “the lack of acceleration on energy efficiency measures.
It said: “The Government’s current fuel poverty target ‘to ensure that as many fuel-poor homes as is reasonably practicable achieve a minimum energy efficiency rating of band C, by 2030’ is vague and unspecific.”
Instead, the committee called for targets “to lift 100% of domestic properties by EPC C by 2035. Improving homes to EPC C or above will reduce the UK’s reliance on energy imports and cut carbon emissions while delivering a wealth of co-benefits, including warmer homes, improved health outcomes, and a job-creating boost to local tradespeople.”
The United for Warm Homes campaign calls for:
Urgent Support for People Dealing with High Energy Bills;
A New Emergency Programme to Insulate our Heat-leaking Homes and
An Energy System Powered by Cheap, Green Renewables.
Hundreds of local Friends of the Earth groups around the UK have joined the campaign which will ramp up in the run up to the 2024 election camaign. The aim is to make sure all political parties know that commiting to fixing our energy system so that it works for people and the planet will help them get elected.
Together we can win the fight for warm homes that don’t cost the earth.