Labour’s energy policy: a foreign policy perspective

Top lines

Debates about post-COVID recovery plans in the UK, Europe and US highlight the close relationship between energy policy and trade, foreign and industrial policy. 

Labour needs a comprehensive energy policy that addresses the relationship between reducing emissions, internalising emissions in trade policy and decarbonising domestic production as quickly as possible. 

Decarbonisation is an issue of international strategic advantage, as shown by Norway’s ability to attract battery manufacturers because of its advantage in hydropower generation.

The EU’s programme to implement a trade carbon adjustment mechanism in 2023 will impose yet more significant trade losses for British exporters on European if the UK does not reach an agreement for an equitable system or equivalence. The ‘race to zero’ will reward the economies that decarbonise the fastest.

Labour can establish itself as the party serious on economic matters and foreign policy by building on its green jobs platform. A comprehensive green policy must link economic competitiveness with carbon taxation or adjustment, investment in green energy, battery infrastructure and support for industries to decarbonise their operations.

Photo: