Labour would hit oil and gas companies with a windfall tax of about £11 billion in order to finance plans to tackle the climate crisis by creating a greener economy.

Jeremy Corbyn announced the “just transition tax” as part of Labour’s “green industrial revolution” when unveiling his party’s election manifesto in Birmingham on Thursday.

If Labour wins the December 12 vote, the party plans to create one million green jobs and deliver the “substantial majority” of the emissions cuts needed to tackle the environmental emergency by 2030.

Consultation

Mr Corbyn hopes the windfall tax would provide a support package for nearly 37,000 oil and gas workers, 126,000 people in jobs reliant on the sector and their communities as the nation transitions to a clean economy.

The Labour leader hopes to use the key revenue raiser to deliver on his pledge not to hang the workers “out to dry” and ensure they have new, unionised jobs.

Labour says Scotland’s North Sea oil and gas production has had a net operating surplus of £273 billion, but has been leaving workers and their communities vulnerable since its decline from 1999.

The party argues that the benefactors should now help pay for the cost to transition into a greener economy.

The size and exact mechanism of the tax will be determined by a consultation, but Labour estimates it could raise about £11 billion after looking at schemes in Germany and Spain.

Gas workers

Labour officials do not anticipate the cost of the windfall would be pushed onto consumers at the petrol pumps, saying prices are determined by the global market.

At the manifesto launch at Birmingham City University, Mr Corbyn said: “The crisis demands swift action, but it isn’t right to load the costs of the climate emergency onto the nurse, the builder or the energy worker.

“So, a Labour government will ensure the big oil and gas corporations that profit from heating up our planet will shoulder the burden and pay their fair share through a just transition tax.

“North Sea oil and gas workers have powered this country for decades, often working under dangerous conditions. We won’t hang them out to dry.

“This fund will safeguard a future for their skills and communities with new careers and secure, well-paid jobs.”

This Author

Sam Blewett is the PA political correspondent.

Labour would hit oil and gas companies with a windfall tax of about £11 billion in order to finance plans to tackle the climate crisis by creating a greener economy.

Jeremy Corbyn announced the “just transition tax” as part of Labour’s “green industrial revolution” when unveiling his party’s election manifesto in Birmingham on Thursday.

If Labour wins the December 12 vote, the party plans to create one million green jobs and deliver the “substantial majority” of the emissions cuts needed to tackle the environmental emergency by 2030.

Consultation

Mr Corbyn hopes the windfall tax would provide a support package for nearly 37,000 oil and gas workers, 126,000 people in jobs reliant on the sector and their communities as the nation transitions to a clean economy.

The Labour leader hopes to use the key revenue raiser to deliver on his pledge not to hang the workers “out to dry” and ensure they have new, unionised jobs.

Labour says Scotland’s North Sea oil and gas production has had a net operating surplus of £273 billion, but has been leaving workers and their communities vulnerable since its decline from 1999.

The party argues that the benefactors should now help pay for the cost to transition into a greener economy.

The size and exact mechanism of the tax will be determined by a consultation, but Labour estimates it could raise about £11 billion after looking at schemes in Germany and Spain.

Gas workers

Labour officials do not anticipate the cost of the windfall would be pushed onto consumers at the petrol pumps, saying prices are determined by the global market.

At the manifesto launch at Birmingham City University, Mr Corbyn said: “The crisis demands swift action, but it isn’t right to load the costs of the climate emergency onto the nurse, the builder or the energy worker.

“So, a Labour government will ensure the big oil and gas corporations that profit from heating up our planet will shoulder the burden and pay their fair share through a just transition tax.

“North Sea oil and gas workers have powered this country for decades, often working under dangerous conditions. We won’t hang them out to dry.

“This fund will safeguard a future for their skills and communities with new careers and secure, well-paid jobs.”

This Author

Sam Blewett is the PA political correspondent.

Labour would hit oil and gas companies with a windfall tax of about £11 billion in order to finance plans to tackle the climate crisis by creating a greener economy.

Jeremy Corbyn announced the “just transition tax” as part of Labour’s “green industrial revolution” when unveiling his party’s election manifesto in Birmingham on Thursday.

If Labour wins the December 12 vote, the party plans to create one million green jobs and deliver the “substantial majority” of the emissions cuts needed to tackle the environmental emergency by 2030.

Consultation

Mr Corbyn hopes the windfall tax would provide a support package for nearly 37,000 oil and gas workers, 126,000 people in jobs reliant on the sector and their communities as the nation transitions to a clean economy.

The Labour leader hopes to use the key revenue raiser to deliver on his pledge not to hang the workers “out to dry” and ensure they have new, unionised jobs.

Labour says Scotland’s North Sea oil and gas production has had a net operating surplus of £273 billion, but has been leaving workers and their communities vulnerable since its decline from 1999.

The party argues that the benefactors should now help pay for the cost to transition into a greener economy.

The size and exact mechanism of the tax will be determined by a consultation, but Labour estimates it could raise about £11 billion after looking at schemes in Germany and Spain.

Gas workers

Labour officials do not anticipate the cost of the windfall would be pushed onto consumers at the petrol pumps, saying prices are determined by the global market.

At the manifesto launch at Birmingham City University, Mr Corbyn said: “The crisis demands swift action, but it isn’t right to load the costs of the climate emergency onto the nurse, the builder or the energy worker.

“So, a Labour government will ensure the big oil and gas corporations that profit from heating up our planet will shoulder the burden and pay their fair share through a just transition tax.

“North Sea oil and gas workers have powered this country for decades, often working under dangerous conditions. We won’t hang them out to dry.

“This fund will safeguard a future for their skills and communities with new careers and secure, well-paid jobs.”

This Author

Sam Blewett is the PA political correspondent.

Labour would hit oil and gas companies with a windfall tax of about £11 billion in order to finance plans to tackle the climate crisis by creating a greener economy.

Jeremy Corbyn announced the “just transition tax” as part of Labour’s “green industrial revolution” when unveiling his party’s election manifesto in Birmingham on Thursday.

If Labour wins the December 12 vote, the party plans to create one million green jobs and deliver the “substantial majority” of the emissions cuts needed to tackle the environmental emergency by 2030.

Consultation

Mr Corbyn hopes the windfall tax would provide a support package for nearly 37,000 oil and gas workers, 126,000 people in jobs reliant on the sector and their communities as the nation transitions to a clean economy.

The Labour leader hopes to use the key revenue raiser to deliver on his pledge not to hang the workers “out to dry” and ensure they have new, unionised jobs.

Labour says Scotland’s North Sea oil and gas production has had a net operating surplus of £273 billion, but has been leaving workers and their communities vulnerable since its decline from 1999.

The party argues that the benefactors should now help pay for the cost to transition into a greener economy.

The size and exact mechanism of the tax will be determined by a consultation, but Labour estimates it could raise about £11 billion after looking at schemes in Germany and Spain.

Gas workers

Labour officials do not anticipate the cost of the windfall would be pushed onto consumers at the petrol pumps, saying prices are determined by the global market.

At the manifesto launch at Birmingham City University, Mr Corbyn said: “The crisis demands swift action, but it isn’t right to load the costs of the climate emergency onto the nurse, the builder or the energy worker.

“So, a Labour government will ensure the big oil and gas corporations that profit from heating up our planet will shoulder the burden and pay their fair share through a just transition tax.

“North Sea oil and gas workers have powered this country for decades, often working under dangerous conditions. We won’t hang them out to dry.

“This fund will safeguard a future for their skills and communities with new careers and secure, well-paid jobs.”

This Author

Sam Blewett is the PA political correspondent.

Labour would hit oil and gas companies with a windfall tax of about £11 billion in order to finance plans to tackle the climate crisis by creating a greener economy.

Jeremy Corbyn announced the “just transition tax” as part of Labour’s “green industrial revolution” when unveiling his party’s election manifesto in Birmingham on Thursday.

If Labour wins the December 12 vote, the party plans to create one million green jobs and deliver the “substantial majority” of the emissions cuts needed to tackle the environmental emergency by 2030.

Consultation

Mr Corbyn hopes the windfall tax would provide a support package for nearly 37,000 oil and gas workers, 126,000 people in jobs reliant on the sector and their communities as the nation transitions to a clean economy.

The Labour leader hopes to use the key revenue raiser to deliver on his pledge not to hang the workers “out to dry” and ensure they have new, unionised jobs.

Labour says Scotland’s North Sea oil and gas production has had a net operating surplus of £273 billion, but has been leaving workers and their communities vulnerable since its decline from 1999.

The party argues that the benefactors should now help pay for the cost to transition into a greener economy.

The size and exact mechanism of the tax will be determined by a consultation, but Labour estimates it could raise about £11 billion after looking at schemes in Germany and Spain.

Gas workers

Labour officials do not anticipate the cost of the windfall would be pushed onto consumers at the petrol pumps, saying prices are determined by the global market.

At the manifesto launch at Birmingham City University, Mr Corbyn said: “The crisis demands swift action, but it isn’t right to load the costs of the climate emergency onto the nurse, the builder or the energy worker.

“So, a Labour government will ensure the big oil and gas corporations that profit from heating up our planet will shoulder the burden and pay their fair share through a just transition tax.

“North Sea oil and gas workers have powered this country for decades, often working under dangerous conditions. We won’t hang them out to dry.

“This fund will safeguard a future for their skills and communities with new careers and secure, well-paid jobs.”

This Author

Sam Blewett is the PA political correspondent.

Labour would hit oil and gas companies with a windfall tax of about £11 billion in order to finance plans to tackle the climate crisis by creating a greener economy.

Jeremy Corbyn announced the “just transition tax” as part of Labour’s “green industrial revolution” when unveiling his party’s election manifesto in Birmingham on Thursday.

If Labour wins the December 12 vote, the party plans to create one million green jobs and deliver the “substantial majority” of the emissions cuts needed to tackle the environmental emergency by 2030.

Consultation

Mr Corbyn hopes the windfall tax would provide a support package for nearly 37,000 oil and gas workers, 126,000 people in jobs reliant on the sector and their communities as the nation transitions to a clean economy.

The Labour leader hopes to use the key revenue raiser to deliver on his pledge not to hang the workers “out to dry” and ensure they have new, unionised jobs.

Labour says Scotland’s North Sea oil and gas production has had a net operating surplus of £273 billion, but has been leaving workers and their communities vulnerable since its decline from 1999.

The party argues that the benefactors should now help pay for the cost to transition into a greener economy.

The size and exact mechanism of the tax will be determined by a consultation, but Labour estimates it could raise about £11 billion after looking at schemes in Germany and Spain.

Gas workers

Labour officials do not anticipate the cost of the windfall would be pushed onto consumers at the petrol pumps, saying prices are determined by the global market.

At the manifesto launch at Birmingham City University, Mr Corbyn said: “The crisis demands swift action, but it isn’t right to load the costs of the climate emergency onto the nurse, the builder or the energy worker.

“So, a Labour government will ensure the big oil and gas corporations that profit from heating up our planet will shoulder the burden and pay their fair share through a just transition tax.

“North Sea oil and gas workers have powered this country for decades, often working under dangerous conditions. We won’t hang them out to dry.

“This fund will safeguard a future for their skills and communities with new careers and secure, well-paid jobs.”

This Author

Sam Blewett is the PA political correspondent.

Labour would hit oil and gas companies with a windfall tax of about £11 billion in order to finance plans to tackle the climate crisis by creating a greener economy.

Jeremy Corbyn announced the “just transition tax” as part of Labour’s “green industrial revolution” when unveiling his party’s election manifesto in Birmingham on Thursday.

If Labour wins the December 12 vote, the party plans to create one million green jobs and deliver the “substantial majority” of the emissions cuts needed to tackle the environmental emergency by 2030.

Consultation

Mr Corbyn hopes the windfall tax would provide a support package for nearly 37,000 oil and gas workers, 126,000 people in jobs reliant on the sector and their communities as the nation transitions to a clean economy.

The Labour leader hopes to use the key revenue raiser to deliver on his pledge not to hang the workers “out to dry” and ensure they have new, unionised jobs.

Labour says Scotland’s North Sea oil and gas production has had a net operating surplus of £273 billion, but has been leaving workers and their communities vulnerable since its decline from 1999.

The party argues that the benefactors should now help pay for the cost to transition into a greener economy.

The size and exact mechanism of the tax will be determined by a consultation, but Labour estimates it could raise about £11 billion after looking at schemes in Germany and Spain.

Gas workers

Labour officials do not anticipate the cost of the windfall would be pushed onto consumers at the petrol pumps, saying prices are determined by the global market.

At the manifesto launch at Birmingham City University, Mr Corbyn said: “The crisis demands swift action, but it isn’t right to load the costs of the climate emergency onto the nurse, the builder or the energy worker.

“So, a Labour government will ensure the big oil and gas corporations that profit from heating up our planet will shoulder the burden and pay their fair share through a just transition tax.

“North Sea oil and gas workers have powered this country for decades, often working under dangerous conditions. We won’t hang them out to dry.

“This fund will safeguard a future for their skills and communities with new careers and secure, well-paid jobs.”

This Author

Sam Blewett is the PA political correspondent.

Labour would hit oil and gas companies with a windfall tax of about £11 billion in order to finance plans to tackle the climate crisis by creating a greener economy.

Jeremy Corbyn announced the “just transition tax” as part of Labour’s “green industrial revolution” when unveiling his party’s election manifesto in Birmingham on Thursday.

If Labour wins the December 12 vote, the party plans to create one million green jobs and deliver the “substantial majority” of the emissions cuts needed to tackle the environmental emergency by 2030.

Consultation

Mr Corbyn hopes the windfall tax would provide a support package for nearly 37,000 oil and gas workers, 126,000 people in jobs reliant on the sector and their communities as the nation transitions to a clean economy.

The Labour leader hopes to use the key revenue raiser to deliver on his pledge not to hang the workers “out to dry” and ensure they have new, unionised jobs.

Labour says Scotland’s North Sea oil and gas production has had a net operating surplus of £273 billion, but has been leaving workers and their communities vulnerable since its decline from 1999.

The party argues that the benefactors should now help pay for the cost to transition into a greener economy.

The size and exact mechanism of the tax will be determined by a consultation, but Labour estimates it could raise about £11 billion after looking at schemes in Germany and Spain.

Gas workers

Labour officials do not anticipate the cost of the windfall would be pushed onto consumers at the petrol pumps, saying prices are determined by the global market.

At the manifesto launch at Birmingham City University, Mr Corbyn said: “The crisis demands swift action, but it isn’t right to load the costs of the climate emergency onto the nurse, the builder or the energy worker.

“So, a Labour government will ensure the big oil and gas corporations that profit from heating up our planet will shoulder the burden and pay their fair share through a just transition tax.

“North Sea oil and gas workers have powered this country for decades, often working under dangerous conditions. We won’t hang them out to dry.

“This fund will safeguard a future for their skills and communities with new careers and secure, well-paid jobs.”

This Author

Sam Blewett is the PA political correspondent.

Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price has said Labour must back a green investment programme for Wales if it is to secure his party’s support in the event of a hung parliament following the general election on December 12.

The party is launching its manifesto on Friday with a call for the Westminster government to allocate an additional one percent of GDP to invest in “green infrastructure” over the next decade, allowing Wales to spend an additional £15 billion on green jobs, transport and energy.

Monopolies

Mr Price said Jeremy Corbyn would have to adopt the programme if Plaid Cymru – which had four MPs in the last parliament – were to help him enter No 10.

“It has to be this investment programme. That has to be the key. Fair funding for Wales,” he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

“We want to make those investments in Wales. We don’t want them done by, as Labour is suggesting, creating state-owned monopolies based outside of Wales. This is not much better than privately-owned monopolies based outside of Wales.”

This Author

Brendan Montague is the editor of The Ecologist. This article is based on copy from PA.

A hyena, two Endangered Lappet-faced Vultures, and three critically endangered Rüppell’s Vultures were confirmed dead at the scene of an illegal poisoning event on Wednesday in Ol Kinyei Conservancy in the northeast Maasai Mara.

Five vultures were found poisoned, but still alive, including three Rüppell’s, one juvenile White-backed, and one Lappet-faced Vulture. Sadly, one Rüppell’s Vulture died overnight.

This poisoning incident is one of many that has drastically decreased populations of vultures throughout Kenya and across the continent of Africa, including incidents that have killed hundreds of vultures at one time.

Wildlife poisoning

Fortunately, due to the training, organization, and quick thinking of one woman, Valarie Nasoita, and a network of Vulture Protectors, this situation did not become an even larger tragedy.

NGOs throughout the region have been collaborating and working hard to stop the scourge of retaliatory wildlife poisoning in southern Kenya that has devastated populations of critically endangered vultures and other scavengers.

Retaliatory poisoning usually occurs when predators such as lions, hyenas, and leopards attack livestock. Without compensation in place, livestock farmers resort to lacing their dead livestock with easily accessible agro-chemicals with the intention to kill predators.

Vultures that scavenge in large numbers on dead animals often succumb to the poison and hundreds can die as a result.

Nasoita, a vulture liaison officer for The Peregrine Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to the global conservation of birds of prey, has been working diligently with communities throughout the region to help them understand the value of protecting wildlife and the dangers that using poisons pose for wildlife, livestock, and human health.

She studied wildlife management in Kenya’s Wildlife Service Training Institute and attended trainings for responding to and managing wildlife poisoning incidents and crime management. All of the training and hard work paid off when she arrived to the site of the poisoning and leapt into action – an exhausting eight hour effort to save nature’s treasures.

Recovery

Nasoita initially heard about the incident from the Ol Kinyei conservancy manager, Simon Nkoitoi, who quickly reached out to Nasoita for help.

When Nasoita arrived at the scene of the poisoning she recalls: “I was worried that there would be no one to help me capture and care for the vultures that were poisoned but still alive. Fortunately I was able to find two rangers from the conservancy who helped me catch each vulture and move them to the shade.”

Once in the shade, under the guidance of chief veterinarian Dr. Limo of Kenya Wildlife Service and Shiv Kapila from the Kenya Bird of Prey Trust via a special WhatsApp group of trained Vulture Protectors, Nasoita began administering first aid care to the birds.

Kapila stated: “Those five birds still alive have a good chance of survival because of the quick response and teamwork that got the birds stabilised and in our care. However, the hard part is only just beginning. The birds will take weeks to recover, and only with our 24 hour attention and care. The challenge for us remains huge.”

The coordination between the Kenya Bird of Prey Trust, the Kenya Wildlife Service, the Mara ranger staff, The Peregrine Fund and its partners not only gave this case a positive outcome, but has improved the number of birds saved and incidences quickly resolved at other poisoning scenes over the past few years.

Kapila added: “The quick decontamination of this scene has certainly stopped more deaths and shows how effective trained local ground teams are.” Kapila expects some of the sick birds will be healthy enough to release back to the wild once they have fully recovered.

Population crash

Ralph Buij, director of Africa Programs for The Peregrine Fund, is hopeful for the future. He said: “In the short term I hope that we can stabilise vulture populations after this continent-wide population crash.

“In the end, I hope we can convince people of the importance of vultures and their conservation and cause a shift in awareness and attitude toward wildlife poisoning.

“Also, more emphasis than now needs to put on the criminal persecution of those who now get away with killing these critically endangered birds.” With teammates like the Ol Kinyei rangers, Kapila and the Kenya Bird of Prey Trust, and dedicated staff like Nasoita, conservation efforts are on the right track.

Buij wants the world to understand that vultures are “beautiful creatures and exquisitely effective scavengers.” However, they are also on the brink of extinction in many parts of Africa: “I have seen vulture-less skies in West Africa where only 1-2 percent of former populations remain.

“It’s depressing and we need to do all that’s in our power to prevent that from happening elsewhere. Extinction is forever, yet avoidable if we care. We have no alternative. We must care.”

Conservation heroes

Reflecting on the exhausting day of work, trying to save five of these incredible birds and preventing the death of an untold number, Nasoita said: “I grew up in the Mara when the wildlife were so many. I hope that I can be one of the few who are educating and teaching the community about the benefits of the vultures.

“I want to encourage my community to stop poisoning and help us increase the numbers once again.”

With conservation heroes like Valerie Nasoita and all of the Vulture Protectors working to rescue this special group of birds on the brink, we can win this fight.

This Article

This article is based on a press release from The Peregrine Fund.