M25 protest today: why are Insulate Britain protesters demonstrating on motorway, and which roads are blocked?

Climate protesters blocked the M25 during rush hour today (September 13) to demand a commitment from the UK government on insulating Britain’s ‘leaky’ homes.

The protesters, of environmental group “Insulate Britain”, said they want the government “get on with the job” of insulating homes, which currently create 20% of the UK’s total climate emissions.

What is Insulate Britain?

Insulate Britain is a new environmental group calling on the UK government to put policy and funding in place for a national home insulation programme, starting with all social housing.

What are their demands?

The campaign group has two central demands:

1. That the UK government immediately promises to fully fund and take responsibility for the insulation of all social housing in Britain by 2025;

2. That the UK government immediately promises to produce within four months a legally binding national plan to fully fund and take responsibility for the full low-energy and low-carbon whole-house retrofit , with no externalised costs, of all homes in Britain by 2030 as part of a just transition to full decarbonisation of all parts of society and the economy.

Why are they protesting and what roads are affected?

The group say that the government is not moving fast enough on home insulation, with the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) 2018 report, Scaling Up Retro fit 2050, advising that nearly every UK home needs to be upgraded to meet targets on energy efficiency.

At the current rate of conversion, this equates to 1.5 homes being upgraded per minute to the year 2050.

It’s reported that demonstrators were observed at Junction 20 in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, blocking access to the roundabout from both sides.

There were also reports of demonstrations at Junction 3 in Swanley, Junction 6 in Godstone, Junction 14 at Heathrow, Junction 30 at Thurrock and Junction 31 at Lakeside/Purfleet.

By 10:45am, however, the roads had been cleared.

Why is insulating homes important?

Millions of homes across Britain have poor energy efficiency, leaking emissions into the atmosphere and contributing almost a fifth of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions.

According to the UK Committee on Climate Change, (CCC) it will not be possible for the UK to reach its target of net zero emissions by 2050 if homes are not rapidly decarbonised.

The CCC has said that decarbonising homes should be a national infrastructure priority.

Poorly-insulated homes also lead to higher bills for consumers and, in some cases, dwellings so cold that they can lead to illness and death in occupants.

What have protesters said?

Insulate Britain said this disruption is just the start. “Actions will continue until the government makes a meaningful commitment to insulate Britain’s 29 million leaky homes, some of the oldest and most energy inefficient in Europe,” they said.

Liam Norton, 36, an electrician from London said.

"Since waking up to the crisis we are all in, due to the catastrophic breakdown in our climate, I have been shocked at the lack of significant action from our government.

“They need to face up to reality. It will destroy our economy and the fabric of our society. They are being incredibly reckless. They are betting the farm on technologies that don’t exist. A stitch in time saves nine which means if we spend money now we’ll stop a catastrophe later down the line.

“It’s a no brainer. Insulating Britain will reduce emissions, provide hundreds of thousands of jobs and stop our elderly dying in cold homes each winter. So stop messing about Boris and get on with the job!