Liberal Democrats call for climate action now.

As highlighted last month, statistics show that renewable energy growth has slowed in the last year, despite promises from the Conservatives to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and to make Britain the "Saudi Arabia of wind energy."

Offshore wind capacity grew by just 4% in 2020, compared to 20% the previous year. Onshore wind increased its capacity by just 1.1%, continuing a downward trend since 2017, when the Conservatives made it significantly harder to build new onshore wind farms. Solar capacity increased by 1.6%, continuing its limited growth since the Conservatives cut subsidies for solar power in 2016.

Tom Snowdon, Chair of Chesterfield Lib Dems, said "it was good to see record renewable energy output in 2020 (42.9 per cent of generation), with output in three quarters of 2020 exceeding fossil fuel generation for the first time ever. Despite this, only a modest 4% growth in renewables capacity was achieved last year. This is just not good enough to combat the climate emergency, and the government has to provide more leadership.

Given this growing crisis it was very disappointing to see that the Labour led Borough Council have disbanded the Climate Change Working Group, limiting the input of local people.

Increasing damage is being done to the environment as we slide towards a climate catastrophe. The government must push for a rapid increase in renewable energy capacity before it's too late. The Climate Emergency won't wait, and neither should we"

"Liberal Democrats believe in climate action now. That means expanding renewable generation to three quarters of all electricity by 2030."