Campaigners demand warm homes for all at Conservative Party Conference
- Photo moment staged by Friends of the Earth juxtaposed two UK homes – one warm and the other cold and leaking heat – to demonstrate the impact of insulation on soaring energy bills
- High-resolution photos available here for download
- The group urges the government to roll out a council-led, street-by-street insulation programme to stop millions going cold this winter and in the future
- United for Warm Homes is a new campaign initiated by Friends of the Earth
Campaigners gathered outside Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham today to demand the government upgrades the UK’s poorly insulated homes to protect people this winter and beyond.
The environmental group Friends of the Earth staged a visual photo action as delegates arrived at the conference, highlighting the millions of people across the country facing sky-high energy bills and to urge the government to fix the UK’s heat-leaking homes.
The group created two scenes side-by-side on a fictional road called ‘Inequality Street’ – one of a warm home benefitting from the energy savings that insulation provides, and another with no insulation that is cold and leaking heat.
It cast a light on the poor-quality housing that millions of people in the UK live in and why many homes are expensive to heat because they lack the most basic insulation.
Despite the government’s recent energy price freeze, the average energy bill has still nearly doubled in the space of a year, leaving many people unable to afford enough energy to stay warm.
Insulating homes remains one of the cheapest and quickest ways to bring down energy bills for the long-term. That’s why Friends of the Earth is calling on the government to roll out a council-led, street-by-street home insulation programme, targeted first at those most in need. Not only will the average household save hundreds of pounds each year on their bills, making UK homes more energy efficient will also reduce the amount of harmful carbon emissions released into our atmosphere.
High-resolution photographs from today’s photocall can be downloaded here.
Sana Yusuf, climate campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said:
“The energy crisis hasn’t gone away just because the government capped the average energy bill at £2,500. That’s still almost double what most households were paying last year. And with the cost of living spiralling and basic expenses such as rent and food becoming increasingly unaffordable, millions are still bracing for a cold and difficult winter.
“Though additional financial support is needed to ensure no one goes cold over the coming months, rapidly rolling out a street-by-street insulation programme, targeted first at the homes in the most pressing circumstances, would bring down bills quickly, save households hundreds of pounds each year on their bills and drastically cut planet-warming carbon emissions.”
UNITED FOR WARM HOMES – a new campaign initiated by Friends of the Earth
The energy crisis has laid bare the many flaws in the UK’s energy system and how it’s people and the planet that are paying the price. That’s why Friends of the Earth is on a mission to secure affordable energy for all and win the fight for warm homes.
To guarantee happier, healthier communities and a planet that is not just surviving, but thriving, the green group has identified three key problems the country is currently facing, and the solutions that can solve the energy crisis once and for all:
1. Energy bills are soaring
As we head into winter, millions of people will be worrying about paying their energy bills. Some are being hit harder by sky-rocketing energy prices than others, which is only made worse by a cost of living crisis that’s leaving too many in precarious financial positions.
Even with the government’s recently announced energy price freeze, the average annual energy bill has almost doubled in a year. That leaves around six million people facing fuel poverty this winter – nearly double the number in 2021.
Meanwhile, oil and gas firms have been posting record-breaking profits. It’s clear who’s winning while everyone else is left pick up the huge costs to people and planet.
More emergency support, targeted at those most at risk, is urgently needed to keep people warm and well this winter.
2. We’re trapped in heat-leaking homes that cost far too much to keep warm
The UK has some of the worst insulated homes in Europe. That means millions of households are paying through the roof to keep their homes warm, or are going cold because they simply cannot meet the rising cost of energy.
Even though energy efficiency measures are widely regarded as one of the cheapest and quickest ways to bring down the nation’s energy bills, they remain largely absent from the government’s agenda.
A nationwide programme to insulate UK homes, funded by the government and rolled out street-by-street by councils, would help the average household to save hundreds of pounds each year on their bills and dramatically cut the amount of climate-changing carbon emissions our homes produce.
3. We need to transform our energy system
The reason energy prices are so high in the first place is because gas is expensive and the global market for it is incredibly unpredictable. With more than 80% of UK homes reliant on gas for things like heating and hot water, the majority of households are locked into a system of volatile gas pricing.
Our energy system needs a total rethink. The profits of big fossil fuel firms are being put before people’s lives, which is neither fair nor right.
To bring down bills permanently we need to get our homes off costly gas for good, but we also need an energy system that meets everyone’s basic needs. And one that develops the UK’s huge potential for cheap, clean renewable power, which can both lower bills and cut the amount of carbon unleashed into our atmosphere.
