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i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". ♪ christian: hello. i am christian fraser, and this is "the context." >> first year ever, or first 12-month period ever, where temperatures have exceeded one point five degrees over industrial levels. it's important boundary. >> in recent weeks they've been going globally wobbly about whether they were keeping the promise or not. today they have lobbed that number into a skid. >> what we are announcing today is we won't be making further

announcements and we won't be reaching the $28 billion. christian: yes, take a look in the skiff and you will see that labor has dropped the pledge to spend 20 billion pounds a year on green projects. 20 billion a year is 24 billion over the whole parliament. it has been an agonizing process for labor. we will have analysis and reaction to the u-turn and the way it has been handled. ukraine's president zelenskyy has sacked the head of the armed forces. we will bring you the latest on that. and we are waiting for early results from pakistan. the votes are being counted. the very end of a very tense a few days. good evening. back in 2015 the world leaders gathered in paris to agree a target to limit the global average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees celsius above

preindustrial levels. that target was seen as crucial in preventing the worst effects of global warming. today the eu's climate service copernicus revealed lester the 1.5-degrees limit was met or exceeded everything once. the past eight months have been the hottest on record. what's more, the sea temperature has been rising evy single day since april. although that has been driven in part by the current el niño effect. here is our climate editor. justin: this is where the electricity company sse plans a 2 billion-pound water battery. the hydroelectric plant, the biggest engineering project and the island since the 1940's, was for excess renewable power. -- will store excess winnable power. here is the plan, they are going to build a dam 92 meters high and 600 meters long across the

end of the glen to create a huge reservoir. but here is the really clever bit -- the whole project is designed to eloit the key weakness of renewable energy sources like wind and solar. they are great when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing, then they often generate so much electricity that the price goes to zero. in fact there are wind farms in scotland that are sometimes paid not to supply electricity to the grid. at times like that, turbines will pump water up to the new reservoir. when it is dark or the wind isn't blowing and electricity is scarce, the water can be released, spinning the turbines to generate enough electricity to power 3 million u.k. homes for 24 hours. >> the benefits are that the consumers are going to save money. we are going to use less oil and gas, too much of supply and demand, which is good for everyone and helps us achieve

our climate goals. justin: sse has already spent 100 million pounds digging this tunnel. but heavy engineering like this does not come cheap, and the breakthrough has been finding a way to give investors confidence in the finances of a project that could still be running in 100 years time. the government doesn't want to put in any public crash. the an is to create a floor, i guarantee of minimum revenues, but it will also impose a cap on prices to make sure the project doesn't make too much profit. and more projects like this will be needed to switch to renewable power continues. sse says once the funding make and is him is finalized, it will press ahead with britain's biggest battery. christian: well, that assessment

in justin's report comes on the same day that the opposition leader here in britain, sir keir starmer, confirms he is ditching the pledge to spend 28 billion pounds a year on green investment if his party wins election. conservatives have described as another starmer major u-turn. speaking to the bbc's political editor, he said the target had to be scaled back because it was the conservatives who crashed the economy. >> let'be clear, what are you keeping? >> since we announced the green prosperity plan, we have made a number of important components like green steel, to make steel in this country, a national wealth fund so we can have investment coming in for the jobs of the future, and a publicly-owned company so that where we invest in energy in this country, we get deals back for taxpayers.

all of that make sure that every single commitment we've made is staying. the warm homes commitment is scaled down, that will take longer, but everything else is exactly as announced. what we are announcing today is we won't be making further investments, and therefore we won't reach the 28 billion pounds, which is effectively stood down. the reason for that is because of the damage the tories have done to the economy. interest rates have gone through the roof, we have to aust. they want to max out their credit card at the first opportunity. we have had to adjust to that for the commitments we have made, they stay on the table. reporter: why are you junking 28 billion, given that quite a lot of the economic picture changed quite a while ago? and yet you are clinging to 20 billion until now? >> the 28 billion commitment was made 2.5 years ago.

the crash and the economy sent interest rates through the roof. treasury insiders have been briefing that the government intends the budget to max out the credit card, the government credit card, which is obviously reckless. but we have to anticipate the economy that we will actually inherit, not the one that we want to inherit if we are privileged enough to win the next election. reporter: is it a mistake in the first place to talk about 28 billion, an arbitrary number that you acknowledge would be a struggle to get to anyway? >> 28 billion w was announced when interest rates were very low. now they're very high -- reporter: was it a silly promise in the first place? > that means interest on the debt is measured in tens of billions of pounds. what i'm interested in is not the money, the exact sum, but the outcomes. with -- reporter: -- until this morning? >> i have always been -- my mission is clean power by 2030.

that is one of my five missions. that is absolutely committed to, and what i've major is that the commitments we have made under the green prosperity plan, vital underpinning for that are still in place so we have the certainty, every commitment i have made is staying exactly the same way, save for the warm homes plan, which will take a little bit longer than i would've liked. christian: let's discuss that. i'm joined by the former chair of the climate change committee and now chair of an independent sustainability consultancy. good to have you with us. keir starmer assuring us that all of his commitments will stay, bar the warmer homes policy, which will take a slightly longer. can it be done in one parliament with 24 billion pounds? >> well, the real problem, i think, is there is not enough that's encouraging private investment. the climate change committee made it very clear that the vast

majority of the change that we need must be funded by the private sector. what we need is government intervention and more than we are getting from the present government, but we also need to have policies which encourage investment in britain. i want to see that from all the three major political parties. at the moment we are not seeing the kind of liveliness which we need, because the reality is that unless we get that investment, than the public will pay more and more for their energy. of course convertible energy is the cheapest way to produce energy. and i'm really angry that ordinary people are paying more for their energy because we have not moved asked enough into renewables. christian: if it is the private sector that is paying the bulk of the bill, then clearly have to attract those investors to the country, and given that the

united states has a very large subsidy program and the is thinking of creating a similar-sized package -- the newest thinking of cting a similar-sized package, companies look to the u.k. and think they are not a good bet because they keep you turning -- u-turning. >> it is certainly true that the kinds of changes which have been made by the present government have not helped. but the truth is we are a country that can do certain things better than anyone else, so we ought to be moving in that direction. in order to do that, one of the things we have got to do is to make sure that national grid reforms, the grid system, that we actually encourage more offshore wind, that we do more onshore wind. you've gotta move faste -- we have got to move faster changing the planning arrangements for onshore wind. people will come to us if we have an attitude we then stick

to. that is why the cross-party agreements which come under the climate change act are so important. and it's really serious the way in which parties are now using climate as a competitive issue, but it is competitive downwards rather than a competitive upwards. christian: that is an interesting point, because one of the organs those who think labor were right to drop this is one of the arguments those who think labor were right to drop this play check made is that labor still has a problem trying to convince the public that they are safe with your money this is a problem wn it comes to the green transition, we are trying to fit it into a five-year cycle, and actually some of the state spending will be massive and it will need a cross party commitment, isn't it? >>f course it is, and that is why we crate in the climate change pact in the first place, and that is why i continue to be critical of the present government of using this issue as a kind of divisive issue instead of it being something we

do together for the good of all of us. it's not just a question of fighting climate change, which is very serious, on the day in which we know we are now permanently passing 1.5 degrees warmer than we were, but it's also crucial because of people's bills. unless we move fast enough, people will go on paying through the nose for energy, and that is bad not only for the ordinary person at home, but for every manufacturer. it makes it more difficult for people to invest in britain because the energy costs too much. and we have been the leaders in offshore win we have got to get back into that position very quickly. christian: just to be clear, are you saying you should have stuck to this? >> i think the reality is, and i'm not going to argue the detail, but actually what labor is now proposing is very much in line with what the climate change committee has asked for.

what i am missing, and i'm still missing it from the conservatives as well, i am missing the involvement of the private sector and trying to create the kind of society in which people want to invest here , particularly in those areas of which we are leaders. christian: do you think part of the problem here, though, is in the messaging, and the way this has been knocked about politically? it is challenging to get people to change their boilers or insulate their homes or to drive electric. if you have politicians who are making decisions which they think are politically expedient but are effectively rolling back commitments they've made, then why with the public make that decision to change? >> well, i just don't understand why politicians don't take some of the easy things. for example, we had more private airplane flights in britain than any other country in europe. now why on earth does this government not say we are going to ask people to flight private

planes, we are going to ask them to pay the full costs of the impact they make on the environment, and we are going to take that money and with it we are going to reduce the vat on the electricity you have to use if you take electricity for your motorcar off the public system? now, why don't you do that? that means the rich pay and the less well-off get to an advantage and it makes it easier for them to move to an electric car. we just are missing out on all the very simple things that can be done in which you make the transition fair and you make people feel that the government is really in charge and trying to do things for the whole nation. christian: and when you advise government, do you put the case that actually if you spend money, if you borrow money to invest in the green transition, that does in turn grow the economy? you look at the united states, with the economies jumped well beyond expectations, perhaps on

the back of what joe biden's put into the climate change policy. can you make the same argument to ministers here, and do they believe it? >> well, you can make the same argument, and they ought to believe it because it is true. but it is also true in another way, and that is that if you don't do that investment, your economy gets less and less competitive, because we have actually got to compete with the rest of europe, we have got to compete with united states. and if we already doing these things, people aren't going to buy from our own mission industries -- own industries. that is awful, there are many jobs that are -- that is another thing that is awful, there are many jobs that are in the green economy, and this government is moving fast enough.--isn't moving fast enough although the opposition has backed down on a number of things, the fact still remains that they are asking for more than this government is doing. i want this government to do

now. we haven't got time to wait. we have to do it now. and the 1.5 passing which we had today just reminds us how close to the tipping point we are, a situation which would mean that all of us would find life extremely disagreeable. christian: you are not a scientist, but i know you consulted widely with scientists. do you believe given the foot dragging that is going on not just in is country, but others as well, that this 1.5 target can't maintained? >> no, i don't come i think it can be maintained and scientists will tell you it can be. but it needs urgent action. people seem to think they have all the time in the world. that is absolutely wrong for the people of britain, and the people of britain will exact their revenge if they find that climate change has made life so impossible for the next

generation -- not just the next generation, even my generation, my age. it is going to be worse and worse unless we take steps now. christian: lord deben, thank you for coming on the program. around the world and across the u.k., you are watching bbc news. for our u.k. viewers, let's look at the stores making headlines here. bbc news analysis reveals that cancer waiting times in england last year were the worst on record. only 64% of patients started treatment within 62 days of cancer being suspected, meaning nearly 100,000 people waited longer for lifesaving care than they should have. waiting periods have worsened every year for the past 11 years. a retail chain is urging mps to make assaulting or abusing a shop worker a specific criminal offense in england and wales. the company said there had been a 44% increase in incidents of shoplifting and violence in its source within the past year. it is already a criminal offense in scotland.

the scottish government bonds to increase the minimum price at which alcohol can be sold by 30%. this means shops in scotland would not be able to sell a bottle of wine for less than six pounds -- 6.09. change must be approved by parliament and would come into effect in september. you are watching bbc news. the votes are being counted in pakistan after a general election that has been plagued by violence and intimidation. mobile phone and internet services were suspended throughout the day, pumping and outcry from the opposition parties. the election comes almost two years after the previous prime minister, former cricketer imran khan, was ousted in a no-confidence vote. his rival, the three-time former prime minister nawaz sharif, told the bbc he thought the elections were absolutely fair. our south asia correspondent samira hussain has more.

samira: we have heard from the electoral commission that basically said that by and large the elections went off pretty well, that they cited a few security instances -- incidents that have been in which some security personnel had died. but from their perspective by large this was a pretty good election in terms of overall safety. there were also quick to mention that there were some issues at some polling stations and that those polling stations have been reported to them. but in general, they are reporting that this has been a pretty good election. but remember that for the entire time that these polls were open, we saw that the mobile services were completely shut down. internet service was completely shut down. and the government had assured people that they weren't going to cut off any communication, but in the end that they did, citing the security concerns.

critics were very quick to say this is just another attempt by the government to stifle the electoral process. christian: let's speak more abt it with an associate professor in international relations of south asia at the university of bar. good have you with us. we thought we would have it by now, an early result from the elections. why do you think there has been a delay? >> well, given the far and wide locations of the voting stations and the size of pakistan, four times the size of this country, it is no surprise we will need to wait until tomorrow morning to have some basic idea of who has one. christian: mobile internet was cut ahead of the vote and lots of complaints today. how much do you think that might influence the result? wali: that was purposely done to keep one of the party's supporters away from polling stations as much as possible, the party of imran khan. and the idea was to give more

weight to the blanco party of no washer reef, who as you mentioned earlier -- often the washer reef, -- of no washer reef -- of nawaz sharif, who as you mention has been in power three times before. christian: the security situation is clearly worsened in the border regions, especially bullock a stand in the southwest -- balochistan in the southwest. what role is the pakistani military playing out? wali: well, their external secure the problems is one of the host of problems that the country is facing, as well as a variety of internal problems on the economic front and various issues. but the biggest challenge that the incoming prime minister has is, as you mentioned, the pakistani military and how to deal with their interference or influence in the civilian affairs and matters of today running of the government -- day-to-day running of the government.

christian: are you saying they allowed the chaos on the border to be maintained in some form, that they don't clampdown on it enough so that they create a feeling of insecurity that people -- that might influence the way people vote? wali: since the end of the dictatorship of pervez musharraf, pakistan has emerged as a hybrid state in which power lies in the hand of the military but there is a civilian façade at the front. it is very unlike many developing countries. so what happens in the scenarios that the military wants to maintain its role and control over state and society and civilian affairs, and i can only be justified if there is some level of controlled chaos on the borders with india, with afghanistan, and with iran. that is what we are seeing for now, and that justifies the

overbearing and surreptitious control which is ever-increasing of the military on civilian matters, whereas the actual accountability lies in the hands of civilians. christian: but of course that can backfire, and it did backfire badly in the recent conflict between iran and pakistan. wali: of course from that is a big challenge that the military will have, is to how much chaos is controlled and when does it get out of control. and that is something that the future prime minister will have to deal with, which is basically how to navigate the over dominant control of the military or the interference of the military and civilian affairs and still provide some kind of relief to the suffering masses. and given if nawaz sharif is going to be the next prime minister, he will come in after being expelled three times by the military, and for the fourth time it might be his last time before he passes on the power to his daughter most likely.

he would want to provide some relief, but that will be a challenge because the military does not like civilian leaders to get more popular than a ceain level because then they can challenge the military -- christian: well, yes, imran khan is a good example of that, and his party's name did not appear on the ballot. a lot of the candidates stood as independents. how difficult will it be in the initial days and weeks to work out what the scale of the opposition is? wali: well, it looks like the opposition is over decimated. pakistan is quite used to what we call -- in which a host of tactics are used to deprive oppositional parties, the parties that this a courteous talisman does not want to see in parliament -- that the security establishment does not want to see in parliament with heavy presence, they are marginalized

from the beginning, forcing candidates to withdraw from sidingith imran khan or those parties against the military. and the actual on-the-day rigging is not as massive as the pre-poll rigging. we do not see much opposition to nawaz sharif, likely to be the next prime minister. but couple used on the line we will see things gradually worsening with the military astonishment. christian: go to talk to you. fascinating -- good to talk to you, fascinating dynamics at the moment. just news to give you before we go to break -- the investigation into the classified documents kept by joe biden and which were investigated by the special counsel has found that he did willfully retain them and disclose them but has concluded that there is no need for any prosecution. this is one of the locations

where those documents were found, the housing office complex. the allegations date back to mr. biden's time is vice psident. he was one of the people interviewed during the special counsel's investigation. donald trump has been indicted in another investigation. narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: "usa today" calls it, "arguably the best bargain in streaming." that's because the free pbs app lets you watch the best of pbs anytime, anywhere.

♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... george: actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. it's exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward.