Over the past few weeks, the Labour government has introduced bold new measures to tax polluters, landmark energy legislation and ambitious new climate targets.

The government is starting to align its actions with the scale of the climate crisis. It’s a welcome recognition that people want to see a bold progressive vision to tackle it. 

Here is why the latest announcements are a win for both people and the planet.

Reeves clamps down on oil and gas profiteering

Fossil fuel profits are surging on the back of a cost of living and climate crisis – the top 100 oil companies are set to make $234 billion additional profits by the end of the year if oil prices average $100 a barrel – and this is possibly underestimated.

Last month, Chancellor Rachel Reeves pledged to close the loopholes that let oil and gas giants dodge tax on their lucrative oil trading profits. The money raised will go straight into cost-of-living support for people across the UK.

By choosing to side with cash-strapped households over polluting profiteers, the Chancellor signaled a massive shift in Treasury priorities. It is a clear sign that the government has heard our demands – fossil fuel giants like Shell should be made to pay for the damage they have created, rather than leaving ordinary households at the mercy of soaring energy bills and escalating climate chaos.   

Many of these oil and gas giants have spent years avoiding paying their fair share of tax. Reeves’ speech made it clear that the government understands the urgent need for material support for people and businesses, and is ready to take steps to make these companies pay up to fund vital cost-of-living support.

None of this happened by accident

These moves by the Labour government are the result of years of relentless pressure from campaigners, communities, and voters who refused to accept corporate greed as the status quo.

However, the true test lies ahead. We know that ambitious policies can be watered down by industry lobbying, so our job now is to ensure the government closes every tax loophole and makes these commitments robust. 

The campaign doesn’t stop here. We want the government to introduce much more ambitious legislation to tax oil and gas giants to pay for climate action. 

With these policies, the Energy Secretary is clearly serious about delivering a clean energy system for the future, which will lower our energy bills and free us from polluting, expensive fossil fuels. The momentum is with us, and our job now is to hold the government to this course and turn these promises into reality. 

Carbon Budget 7

Possibly the biggest long-term win is the government’s commitment to Carbon Budget 7. The UK's legally binding cap on greenhouse gas emissions set under the Climate Change Act 2008.Read more. It sets the UK’s emissions-cutting targets for 2038-2042 – a crucial step towards our legal goal of net zero by 2050. Sticking to it secures the UK’s place among the world’s climate leaders, in step with the rest of Europe.

Now the government must map out how we’ll hit our targets – and the recent energy price spikes only strengthen the case. Reaching net zero will cost the economy less than a single one of these repeated, war-fuelled oil and gas price shocks, and could shield us from the next. It also offers future generations the hope of a fairer, cleaner, more secure world powered by renewables.

This commitment proves that the UK hasn’t abandoned its net zero targets to join the ranks of Trump’s America. Instead, it offers genuine hope for a fairer, cleaner, and more secure world powered by renewables.

Help us shape what happens next

The climate movement is forcing the government to shift. The momentum is again on our side. 

Now, it’s up to us all to hold them to the promises they’ve made and ensure words translate into real, systemic change.

Will you ask you MP to speak out in support of cleaner air, lower bills and a better future for us all?

Write to your MP

The post The UK government is stepping up climate action, and we’re helping to make it happen appeared first on Greenpeace UK.

An underwater robot has set a new record for the world’s deepest protest after revealing a banner saying ‘LISTEN TO THE SCIENCE!’ 1.4 miles (2.3 km) below the surface. The feat was achieved during a Greenpeace scientific survey of vulnerable and unexplored deep-sea ecosystems between Iceland and Svalbard.

The banner was submerged to 2,315 metres below sea level by the expedition’s remotely operated vehicle ‘ROV Holly’ and held up in front of a hydrothermal vent field known as ‘Loki’s Castle’, located along the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge.

The Arctic is one of the most rapidly changing regions on Earth due to climate change, and faces a direct threat from the prospect of deep-sea mining. Greenpeace is warning that these unique ‘biodiversity hotspots’ are at risk of irreversible disruption.

Dr. Sandra Schöttner, chief scientist for the Deep Arctic Expedition at Greenpeace International, said: “This marks the deepest banner protest in history, to speak for ecosystems that have no voice of their own. World leaders have already promised to protect 30 percent of the oceans, now they must listen to the science and actually do it. We cannot meet our global goals if we also allow industrial exploitation of unexplored and vulnerable ecosystems in the deep sea. It is high time that leaders keep their promises and give the oceans a chance to recover.”

Loki’s Castle is a unique volcanic ecosystem containing active chimneys that spew out fluid from deep within the ocean crust at temperatures of up to 320°C. Scientists describe it as a “cradle” of complex life that could hold the key to how life on Earth once started. Our own distant ancestors may have looked just like the microbes living on the geological structures in Loki’s Castle.

“By safeguarding these deep-sea ecosystems within a global network of ocean sanctuaries and establishing a moratorium on deep sea mining, we can create a resilient safety net for marine life, and protect the health of our global oceans for generations to come”, Dr. Sandra Schöttner added.

Greenpeace’s Deep Arctic Expedition brings together world-leading scientists to explore Arctic seamounts and hydrothermal vent fields – all while ‘divestreaming’ the science from the Arctic seabed on YouTube. [1] The area was opened for deep sea mining by the Norwegian government in 2024, but the plans were halted last year after protests from environmental organisations, fishermen, scientists and the green opposition parties in Norway.[2] 

Deep sea mining would, according to many scientists, cause irreversible damage to vulnerable deep-sea ecosystems, including the destruction of habitats, and possibly the extinction of some species.

Greenpeace is calling on world leaders to honour global climate targets, implement the UN Ocean Treaty to protect 30% of the global ocean by 2030, and establish an immediate moratorium on deep-sea mining.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

Photos and videos of the protest are available here. 

A full selection of the photos, video and maps from Greenpeace’s Arctic Deep expedition are in the Greenpeace Media Library 

Join the Arctic expedition WhatsApp channel for updates and divestream notifications. Watch the divestreams on YouTube

Read more about the expedition here 

Notes:

[1] Greenpeace International, Greenpeace Germany and Greenpeace Nordic are leading the Deep Arctic Expedition from 8 May–5 June 2026.

[2] Deep-sea mining: Norway halts controversial practice until 2029 (Euronews) 

Contact:

• Onboard: Daniel Bengtsson, Communications Lead Onboard, Greenpeace Nordic, +46 70 300 9510 (Whatsapp/Signal), daniel.bengtsson@greenpeace.org
• In the UK: kai.tabacek@greenpeace.org / +44 7970 030 019

The post Greenpeace underwater robot sets record for the world’s deepest protest from Arctic seabed appeared first on Greenpeace UK.

Photos and video here

Forty-one people including Greenpeace UK’s Campaigns Director have been arrested today following a peaceful blockade that shut down the UK headquarters of global pesticide company Syngenta in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire [1]. 

Greenpeace has accused Syngenta of driving wildlife decline and threatening UK food security by making and selling pesticides that poison British wildlife.

New Greenpeace analysis of official data [2], reveals today that just one teaspoon of the Syngenta-made pesticide, Hallmark, is enough to kill 13 million bees.

Its active ingredient, Lambda-cyhalothrin, also made and sold by Syngenta, is by far the most-used insecticide on arable land in the UK with 6.9 tonnes of it applied to over 1 million hectares in 2024 [3]. That’s an area more than six times the size of London.

Greenpeace UK Co-Executive Director, Will McCallum, said:
“Today’s arrests are a huge overreaction by police. The damage Syngenta is doing to wildlife and our countryside cannot be overstated, which is why we’re here to confront them. They’re making and selling pesticides that devastate our wildlife, make UK farmers dependent on their products, and put our whole food system at risk – yet they’re getting away scot free.

“If only the Government channelled the same passion it shows for quashing peaceful protest into ending the silent crisis unfolding in our countryside. We need to drastically cut chemicals on our land and in our waterways, and farmers need funding to enable them to do it. This is crucial so that nature – the very foundations of our food system – can recover.”

As well as being deadly to bees, lambda cyhalothrin is classified as a Highly Hazardous Pesticide, very toxic to aquatic life, and a forever chemical (PFAS) which means it is highly persistent in the soil and can accumulate in the food chain. Insecticides like this also starve birds and mammals like hedgehogs by depriving them of their food source.

The action follows Greenpeace UK’s report Our poisoned land, published last week, which warned that intensive pesticide and fertiliser use is pushing UK wildlife and ecosystems to the brink. The report revealed that commonly eaten British fruit and veg are routinely sprayed with over 100 pesticides before reaching the plate. 

ENDS

Contact: press.uk@greenpeace.org / 020 7865 8255

Notes to editors

Previous release from 6am: Activists blockade pesticide giant making bee-killing chemical used on UK fields – Greenpeace UK 

The UK government’s international commitment is to halve pesticide risks and excess nutrients by 2030 and yet so far its own action plan only commits to a 10% reduction for pesticide use. 

Greenpeace is calling for:

• a 50% reduction in pesticide and fertiliser use by 2030
• an 80% reduction by 2040
• funding and support for farmers to reduce reliance on chemical inputs
• tighter restrictions on pesticide use in public spaces and homes

[1] Activists transformed a roundabout outside the front entrance of Syngenta’s HQ into a giant hazard symbol carrying the message “Syngenta poisons nature” with an arrow pointing directly at the building. 

Thirty activists locked onto fifteen blue pesticide barrels, blocking all three gates to the site, preventing cars and HGVs from entering or leaving. Eight of the barrels were topped with ultra-realistic sculptures of wildlife threatened by pesticides including a bee, butterfly, bird, fish, frog and hedgehog. The barrels were painted with Syngenta’s logo, subverted to show the skeleton of a leaf, rather than a healthy green one. 

[2] Source: Pesticide Properties DataBase (PPDB), University of Hertfordshire. 

[3] Source: FERA Report 320 – Arable Crops in the UK, 2024. Greenpeace analysis found Lambda-cyhalothrin was used during the growing process of common British produce including potatoes, peas, carrots, onions, leeks and strawberries.

Of the 41 products authorised for use in the UK containing lambda-cyhalothrin, 8 are marketed by Syngenta. They are the only one of the ‘Big Four’ agrochemical companies (Syngenta, Bayer, BASF, Corteva) authorised to sell it in the UK. Syngenta’s global profits were $4.4 billion last year.

Pesticide giants like Syngenta have locked farmers into a reliance on expensive chemical inputs including pesticides and fertilisers. This threatens our food security because as well as damaging soils and poisoning the pollinators that food production depends on, farmers and our food system are more vulnerable to rising costs caused by global instability – as we’ve seen recently with fertiliser price rises.

The post 41 arrested for confronting pesticide giant making bee-killing chemicals appeared first on Greenpeace UK.

Photos and video here – updated throughout the day

Greenpeace activists have today blockaded the UK headquarters of global pesticide company, Syngenta, in Huddersfield, accusing the pesticide giant of driving wildlife decline and threatening our future food security.

Activists have transformed a roundabout outside the front entrance of Syngenta’s HQ into a giant hazard symbol carrying the message “Syngenta poisons nature” with an arrow pointing directly at the building. 

Thirty activists are currently locked onto fifteen blue pesticide barrels, blocking all three gates to the site, preventing cars and HGVs from entering or leaving. Eight of the barrels are topped with ultra-realistic sculptures of wildlife threatened by pesticides including a bee, butterfly, bird, fish, frog and hedgehog. The barrels are also painted with Syngenta’s logo, which has been subverted to show the skeleton of a leaf, rather than a healthy green one. 

The action comes on World Bee Day and alongside new Greenpeace analysis of official data [1] which reveals just one teaspoon of the Syngenta-made pesticide, Hallmark, whose active ingredient is lambda-cyhalothrin, is enough to kill 13 million bees. 

Lambda-cyhalothrin, processed here in Huddersfield by Syngenta, is a powerful insecticide widely used in UK farming. As well as being deadly to bees, it’s classified as a Highly Hazardous Pesticide, very toxic to aquatic life, and a forever chemical (PFAS) which means it is highly persistent in the soil and can accumulate in the food chain. Insecticides like this also starve birds and mammals like hedgehogs by depriving them of their food source. 

Greenpeace investigators found that:

• Lambda-cyhalothrin is by far the most-used insecticide on arable land in the UK
• 6.9 tonnes of lambda-cyhalothrin was applied to over 1 million hectares of British arable crops in 2024 [2] – an area more than 6 times the size of London
• Of the 41 products authorised for use in the UK containing lambda-cyhalothrin, 8 are marketed by Syngenta. They are the only one of the ‘Big Four’ agrochemical companies (Syngenta, Bayer, BASF, Corteva) authorised to sell it in the UK. 

The action follows Greenpeace UK’s report Our poisoned land, published last week, which warned that intensive pesticide and fertiliser use is pushing UK wildlife and ecosystems to the brink. The report revealed that commonly eaten British fruit and veg are routinely sprayed with over 100 pesticides before reaching the plate. 

Greenpeace analysis found Lambda-cyhalothrin was used during the growing process of common British produce including potatoes, peas, carrots, onions, leeks and strawberries.

Pesticide giants like Syngenta have locked farmers into a reliance on expensive chemical inputs including pesticides and fertilisers. This threatens our food security because as well as damaging soils and poisoning the pollinators that food production depends on, farmers and our food system are more vulnerable to rising costs caused by global instability – as we’ve seen recently with fertiliser price rises.

Nina Schrank, Greenpeace UK campaigner, said:
“Our countryside and the wildlife we love is being poisoned by pesticides made and sold by Syngenta. Just one teaspoon of the Syngenta-made pesticide, Hallmark, is enough to kill 13 million bees. 

“And pesticide damage doesn’t stop at the edge of a field. These chemicals are wiping out insects, polluting rivers and causing the very foundations of our food system to crumble. 

“Meanwhile, Syngenta is making billions while leaving many farmers dependent on their harmful products. That’s why we’re here today: to drag Syngenta out of the shadows and shine a light on the devastation their products are causing to wildlife as well as the threat they pose to our entire food and farming system.

“We need the government to step in, set tighter limits on pesticide use and support farmers to produce healthy food in a nature-friendly way. ”  

The UK’s Pesticides National Action Plan aims to reduce pesticide load indicators by 10% from 2018 levels by 2030. This is despite the UK government’s international commitment to halve pesticide risks and excess nutrients by the same date.

Greenpeace is calling for:

• a 50% reduction in pesticide and fertiliser use by 2030
• an 80% reduction by 2040
• funding and support for farmers to reduce reliance on chemical inputs
• tighter restrictions on pesticide use in public spaces and homes

ENDS

Contact: press.uk@greenpeace.org / 020 7865 8255

Notes to editors

[1] Source: Pesticide Properties DataBase (PPDB), University of Hertfordshire  
[2] Source: FERA Report 320 – Arable Crops in the UK, 2024 
[3] Syngenta’s global profits were $4.4 billion last year.

The post Activists blockade pesticide giant making bee-killing chemical used on UK fields appeared first on Greenpeace UK.

The findings are published today in Greenpeace UK’s new report, Our Poisoned Land, which warns that intensive pesticide and fertiliser use is not only posing serious risks to human health, it’s also pushing British wildlife and our natural environment to the brink. Since 1966, Britain has lost over 19 million breeding birds, and more than half of UK butterfly species are now missing from areas they were found in the 1970s.

Greenpeace investigators examined FERA Pesticide Usage Survey data covering vegetables commonly eaten as part of a traditional Sunday roast. These include onions, leeks, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, peas, swede and turnips – alongside strawberries as a classic British dessert.

The analysis found:

• 102 unique pesticides used across seven food categories

1. Onions and leeks are treated with 43 different pesticides
2. Strawberries are treated with 42
3. Carrots and parsnips are treated with 40
4. Field potatoes are treated with 31
5. Peas are treated with 29
6. Swede and turnips are treated with 20
7. Stored potatoes are treated with 5

Seven of the 102 pesticides are already banned in the EU due to their links to cancer and endocrine disruption in humans, as well as posing high risk to the health of bees, birds, mammals and aquatic ecosystems. 

Of the nine most commonly used pesticides, eight are classified as Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs) – meaning they are toxic to humans, wildlife, or both and three are classified as forever chemicals (PFAS) [2].
Many are linked to: 

• Harm to bees and other pollinators 
• Severe damage to aquatic ecosystems
• Persistence in the environment and accumulation in the food chain
• Cancer and endocrine disruption in humans

As well as revealing the sheer variety of pesticides used in UK farming, the analysis also highlights the number of times these British staples are dosed across the growing season. All crops received multiple pesticide applications with many sprayed dozens of times. 

The repeated exposure is having consequences far beyond farmland – affecting insects, birds, mammals, rivers and soil health across the countryside. 

Nina Schrank, Senior Campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said:

“A Sunday roast and strawberries might feel like one of the most natural and traditionally British meals imaginable but behind the scenes they’re produced using an astonishing cocktail of pesticides.

“Our countryside is being drenched in pesticides, with devastating consequences for bees, birds, butterflies, rivers and the soil. Fields that once hummed with wildlife are falling silent while agrochemical giants rake in enormous profits and farmers are trapped in a costly cycle of chemical dependency. That doesn’t strengthen food security – it makes it more fragile. 

“Farmers are also under huge pressure from rising costs, climate shocks and volatile markets but some are already showing there’s another way. They’re reducing pesticide use and producing food alongside helping wildlife. If the government is serious about restoring nature and ensuring food security, it must properly back farmers and commit to halving pesticide use by 2030.”

Currently, the UK government’s Pesticides National Action Plan targets just a 10% reduction by 2030.

ENDS

Notes to Editors: 

[1] Full data analysis and methodology available on request. 

• Active ingredients recorded on UK-grown vegetables and fruit sourced from FERA Pesticide Usage Survey data.

[2] HHP status cross-referenced against the PAN International List of Highly Hazardous Pesticides (December 2024) and the Pesticide Properties DataBase (PPDB), University of Hertfordshire. PFAS status – Pesticide Properties DataBase (PPDB), Agriculture & Environment Research Unit (AERU), University of Hertfordshire. 

Greenpeace is calling for:

• a 50% reduction in pesticide and fertiliser use by 2030
• an 80% reduction by 2040
• funding and support for farmers to reduce reliance on chemical inputs
• tighter restrictions on pesticide use in public spaces and homes

The post Traditional roast dinner sprayed with cocktail of over 100 pesticides appeared first on Greenpeace UK.

Last week, the government finally listened to our calls for change. They announced a new policy to start delinking gas and electricity prices.

This is a massive win for everyone who uses electricity. It means that when fossil fuel prices spike, like we’re seeing right now with the conflict in Iran, your electricity bills won’t automatically skyrocket along with them. We’ve started to break the chains that bind our wallets to global gas markets.

How we did it: People power vs. Big Gas

This victory was built by tens of thousands of us who refused to accept the Great Gas Rip Off.

While energy executives have been making huge sums and profiting off wars, we have been taking action together. Over 60,000 people signed the petition, sending a clear message to Westminster. Greenpeace volunteers all over the country took the fight to the heart of their communities by:

• Handing out 5,000 beer mats explaining how gas is responsible for the high price of electricity in pubs and chatting with pub landlords
• Chatting with the local community on stalls
• Plastering posters and bus stop ads across the country to make sure MPs couldn’t look the other way.

From a huge protest at the Staythorpe Gas Power Station to political conversations in the halls of the Labour Party conference, we made sure the message was everywhere. 

Our public campaigning was supported by our report, Power Shift. This report explained the problem and set out our proposed solution. It gave the government and supportive MPs the facts they needed to champion our cause and solve the issue.

What exactly changed?

Take the next step

Tell the UK government to lead the renewable revolution.

Sign the petition

In the UK, the most expensive power source sets the price for all electricity. Most of the time, that expensive source is gas. This means even when the vast majority of our electricity comes from cheap renewable energy, even a tiny top-up of gas can make the whole bill expensive. As we move away from fossil fuels and expand renewables, this old system has kept our prices unfairly high.

Many new renewable projects sit outside of this complicated pricing system – years ago, the government started giving new renewable projects ‘set prices’ for their energy so they wouldn’t be affected by fluctuating fossil fuel prices. Now, they are moving older renewable and nuclear plants into this same system. This means that more electricity than ever is capped at set prices, meaning less of the electricity we need to meet demand will be affected by high and volatile gas prices.

Is it perfect? Not yet.

What now? 

We’ve shown that the government will move if we push hard enough. Now, let’s keep the pressure on to ensure the future of UK energy is 100% renewable and 100% affordable.

The post We won! The Great Gas Rip Off is finally ending appeared first on Greenpeace UK.

“Despite Reform’s gains, huge numbers of people have voted for political parties that promise an escape from fossil fuel crises and greater protection for the nature we love. The winning parties in Wales and Scotland both have plans to reach net zero earlier than the Westminster government. The Greens have seen their first two mayors in London and gains from Hastings to Glasgow and Bangor to Norwich. This adds up to a resounding mandate for ambitious action to secure cheap, homegrown renewable energy and to protect our environment.

“The lesson Labour should take from this drubbing is that green policies offer a path out of political irrelevance. Our own polling shows former Labour voters strongly support investing in renewables, taxing the war profits of oil and gas giants and protecting our wildlife and oceans. There are many reasons why people voted Reform, but I’m prepared to bet that few of them involved a desire to rip up the rules that protect nature or to keep our bills at the mercy of Trump’s foreign wars.”

Ends

Contact: Greenpeace UK Press Office – 07970 030 019 / press.uk@greenpeace.org

Notes:

• New YouGov polling commissioned by Greenpeace suggests that voters, particularly Labour defectors, would like to see the Labour government adopt stronger policies on climate and nature. See the results here.
• Greenpeace has analysed the manifestoes in all three nations and assessed each party’s plans on key policy areas including: climate and energy, homes and transport, justice and democracy, and nature and the environment. Read the results here.

The post Comment on Welsh, Scottish and local election results appeared first on Greenpeace UK.

The poll was designed to test the importance of climate and environment policies when compared against a selection of other policies in a simulated, more realistic experiment. Opinions were canvassed on issues ranging from higher taxes on oil and gas company profits and investment in renewable power sources, to efforts to help to insulate homes and tougher regulations on harmful pesticides.

For voters defecting from Labour since 2024, amongst the most popular policies in this test were investing in renewable power and implementing higher taxes on oil and gas company profits. Two other policies tested, the re-nationalisation of water companies and a wealth tax, performed similarly. Voters were more keen on Labour adopting these policies than a basket of others including money for police & defence and freezing VAT on fuel (for the full list, see the table below). The experiment demonstrates how these policies maintained their popularity even up against other popular ideas.

Policies to protect nature – such as tougher regulations on nature-harming pesticides and cracking down on overfishing were also more popular with this group than with the public at large. Out of the policies tested, reducing the number of foreign worker visas was amongst the least popular proposals with Labour defectors.

Ami McCarthy, Head of Politics at Greenpeace UK, said:

“These poll results clearly show that not only do the British public care deeply about climate action, but they also see it as the solution to many of the challenges the country is facing. In a comparative poll, investing in renewable power and higher taxes on oil and gas company profits were among the top policy priorities for defecting Labour voters, which sends a clear sign to the Government to accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels and towards a fairer future. Voters know that the route to lower bills is through more renewable energy and they want politicians to stand up to those who are making eye-watering profits from driving the climate crisis. 

“Every new global crisis that hikes our energy bills yet again is a reminder that the UK remains dangerously exposed to volatile oil and gas markets and overly dependent on fossil fuels. Labour must now choose to rebuild public trust by offering a future that is fairer, more secure and no longer tied to fossil fuels.” 

Key Findings

• “Investing in renewable power sources” and “higher taxes on oil and gas companies”  were amongst Labour defectors’ most chosen options when tested in a more realistic environment against other policies.
• Policies to protect nature – such as tougher regulations on nature-harming pesticides and cracking down on overfishing were more likely to be chosen by Labour defectors than the general population
  

Greenpeace / YouGov poll results

Values shown are the modelled probabilities that a respondent chose the proposal including the particular policy. Numbers shown as decimals rather than percentages to reflect the difference in polling methods, and they should not be treated as a population point estimate. 

Bold = Greenpeace policy. Source: YouGov / Greenpeace conjoint experiment, fieldwork 6–7 May 2026, sample 2,057 GB adults.

Greenpeace recommendations

The polling results revealed key areas where Labour could rebuild the trust of voters while addressing some of the country’s biggest challenges. In response to the highest ranking policy priorities in the poll specific to climate and nature, Greenpeace UK urges the Government to implement the following policies:

Taxing oil and gas company profits

As oil and gas companies continue to make billions in war profits, with Shell today announcing their staggering quarterly profits of $6.9 billion, it is more urgent than ever for the Government to strengthen fossil fuel taxation. This will support households, fund climate action and drive the transition to renewable energy that will insulate against future oil price shocks in the long term. As well as helping ordinary households through the energy crisis, taxes on oil and gas company profits should pay for climate loss and damage inflicted by extreme weather at home and abroad, and provide greater support towards a just transition for energy workers. On top of raising vital revenue, the Treasury should use taxes as a lever to further the government’s policy aims to deliver their Clean Power 2030 target and their legal obligations to Net Zero by 2050.

Investing in renewables

The war in Iran has brought chaos to the volatile global gas and oil market, leaving UK households and businesses once again exposed to price shocks and soaring bills. The government is on the right track with its Clean Power 2030 target, aiming to increase the UK’s energy security and independence.. Now the government must hold its nerve and stay the course. The strategy is working: new wind and solar capacity built since 2021 has saved Britain roughly £7 million per day in gas purchases since the start of the Iran crisis in March 2026. To go further, the government must ensure the financial benefits of the energy transition are felt directly by bill payers. The government should do more to support renewable community energy projects which provide benefits directly to the communities that host them, through cheap loans, targeted skills development, and fast and cheaper connections to the grid. 

Tougher regulations on nature-harming pesticides

The Government needs an ambitious plan to restore biodiversity and protect our land, rivers and wildlife. Reversing nature decline isn’t optional; it’s vital for our food security and our health. 70% of our countryside is farmland, often heavily treated with harmful chemicals. Greenpeace is calling for a 50% reduction in the use and toxicity of pesticides and synthetic fertilisers by 2030, rising to 80% by 2040. Farmers must be supported financially and rewarded for adopting nature-friendly practices that are better for our health and the environment. This includes payment for not using harmful insecticides, fungicides and herbicides.

Notes:

Contact: Greenpeace UK Press Office –press.uk@greenpeace.org  or 020 7865 8255

Methodology used by YouGov Plc polled 2,057 GB adults for Greenpeace on 6-7 May 2026 on the eve of voting in the Local Elections, Welsh & Scottish elections. In a conjoint survey experiment, respondents were shown two competing bundles of four policies — “Proposal A” and “Proposal B” — that the Labour Party could propose, drawn from a pool of 18. They were asked which set, if either, they would prefer Labour to adopt. The exercise was repeated three times per respondent. The figure reports the probability that a proposal was selected when its policies appeared. They are a measure of comparative appeal between competing platforms, not of headline support. 

Greenpeace experts have scrutinised each party’s manifesto and assessed their plans in key areas where urgent action is needed on climate and energy, homes and transport, justice and democracy. Read our blog 2026 elections in Scotland: Greenpeace’s analysis of what are the parties saying on climate and nature? 

The post Polling shows Labour defectors want action on climate, nature and the cost of living appeared first on Greenpeace UK.

Photographs and video of the various projections are available here.

In response to Shell announcing their first-quarter profits this morning, Maja Darlington, climate campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said:

“As bombs fall and bills go up, more billions roll in for Shell, one of the UK’s top war profiteers. Shell is making $53,241 per minute while millions of people across Britain are dreading their next energy bill. Our fossil fuelled economy is rigged in favour of oil giants like Shell – whether it’s war or wildfires, they profit, we pay. 

“In the twenty-first century we have cheaper, cleaner alternatives that we can use to power Britain without anybody being bombed. We don’t need to let the fossil fuel industry hold us to ransom and pass on the costs of endless wars and limitless pollution. The cost of living crisis, the climate crisis, the middle-east crisis, these are all oil industry operating costs. We need to stop subsidising them, introduce new taxes to make them pay and start taxing their obscene profits properly.”

At the weekend a team of Greenpeace activists projected the truth about the source of Shell’s huge profits, announced at 7am this morning, onto their global headquarters by the Thames in London.

The team projected onto the huge office building from a number of different angles, including from the other side of the Thames, and also onto a nearby Shell garage, all in central London.

The projection includes footage from the conflict in Iran as well as footage of the extreme weather that has been increasing around the world in recent years, and footage of Shell’s CEO Wael Sawan.

Photographs and video of the various projections are available here.

ENDS

Contact

Greenpeace UK Press Office – press.uk@greenpeace.org or 020 7865 8255

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