After the Tories’ crushing defeat at the last General Election, I was happy to see the public repudiate 14 years of empty promises and backtracking on climate policy. In 2006, future Prime Minister David Cameron famously visited the Arctic, cuddling huskies and promising a "cleaner, greener" environment with the Conservatives in power. Instead, when in government he ordered his ministers to "get rid of all the green crap".

The Conservative manifesto promised to reduce green levies on households, claiming a "pragmatic" approach, and to continue North Sea oil and gas exploration. Although previously supportive of pro-climate policies, the Tories shifted to attacking anti-pollution and emissions initiatives such as the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan’s ULEZ scheme, moving back the ban on petrol-powered cars to 2035 and railing against heat pumps during the election campaign.

“Although previously supportive of pro-climate policies, the Tories shifted to attacking anti-pollution initiatives”

With a new Labour government in place, we must now ask, will things get better? Labour’s record on climate has been patchy in recent years. Recently, the party U-turned on the promise of £28bn of green investment, watering it down to £4.7bn instead. In addition, the leadership has rebuffed demands for a Green New Deal to speed up the clean-energy transition and create new jobs in emerging fields. However, looking at the Labour manifesto, several important pledges still stand out.

Firstly, the party promises to phase out the use of fossil fuels for electricity generation by 2030, and "double onshore wind, triple solar power, and quadruple offshore wind," creating 650,000 jobs. Labour will not issue new oil and gas exploration licences and will ban fracking, and will impose a windfall tax on oil and gas companies in order to fund investment. In addition, they will invest in home insulation and low-carbon heating. Labour’s most significant pledge is perhaps to create Great British Energy, a publicly-owned company that aims to invest in new technologies in the clean energy sector and expand onshore wind, solar and hydropower projects.

“The Labour government will act to protect our environment and ensure the health of the planet”

These pledges were confirmed in the King’s Speech, with legislation prepared to set up GB Energy, as well as a national wealth fund to invest £7.3bn in green infrastructure and industry, and cleaning up our environment by making bosses of water companies personally liable for their failures. There will also be investment in high-speed rail services for the North of England, with the northern branch of HS2 having been scrapped under the Tories.

Overall, I believe there is reason to be hopeful for a better future under Labour. Although I believe their policy platform doesn’t quite go far enough, the Labour plans will far exceed those of the previous government. The Labour government will act to protect our environment and ensure the health of the planet for future generations, but we must still hold their feet to the fire and guarantee that they deliver.