Honda’s announcement that it is closing its Swindon car plant has brought with it a very human tragedy, with thousands of job losses expected, and many more throughout the supply chain. As the rancorous debate about the role that Brexit played lingers, what might be drowned out is that, in an era of climate emergency, these are the workers whose skills and know-how we so desperately need.
Transport emissions remains the UK’s biggest source of greenhouse gases. Unlike other polluting sectors, like energy, which have seen significant drops in emissions, our transport emissions have only dropped 2% since 1990. If we’re to tackle climate change we desperately need to deal with this. And a big part of solution is electric cars.
The shift from polluting vehicles to electric ones is already happening and happening faster than anyone expected. Honda cited “unprecedented changes” in the market for cars as a result of electric vehicles as their main reason for leaving the UK. Workers in UK plants like in Swindon should be at the forefront of the worldwide shift to electric vehicles, building the cleaner cars that we’ll all need to be driving in the future.
The problem is our government is failing to adequately prepare for the shift to electric vehicles. Honda will have had its specific circumstances but unless the government wakes up to the pace of this change, it will risk seeing more plant closures and more job losses. Because if the change is coming – and many in the car industry see it as inevitable – those jobs dependent on the use of fossil fuels are going to go. The only question is whether the UK can capture the new jobs that will be created in manufacturing clean vehicles.
The government can help us build a thriving car industry fit for the realities of climate change, but certainty is key. If we are to cut carbon emissions and reap the economic benefits, the UK needs to be one of the best places in the world to make electric vehicles. The phase-out date for conventionally fuelled cars and vans set last year by UK government – 2040 – already looks hopelessly tardy.
In this, the UK is far behind a whole host of nations, ranging from India, to our near neighbours Ireland and Norway. Like them, we should be bringing this date forward to 2030. China is clear that it wants to dominate the market in electric vehicles this century and if the EU and UK don’t move quickly, it will. The new earlier date would create a tight timescale for government departments, energy companies, infrastructure providers, supply chain companies, as well as car manufacturers themselves. This needs to be backed up with preferential tax treatment to help encourage companies to make electric vehicle purchases for their corporate fleets.
Experts from the National Grid to committees of MPs have said going faster than government plan is both possible and desirable. Too often the government makes the right noises on this issue but fail to take the prompt action needed, and all too often, it’s British workers who pay the price. But the prize, if they grasp it, is a thriving, greener car industry providing good jobs for many years to come.
• Rosie Rogers is Greenpeace UK’s senior clean air campaigner
