When Rishi Sunak reneged on his climate policy promises last year, he put himself at odds with the industry leaders and experts who have been working towards meeting the UK’s net zero targets. As the devolved nations power ahead with their own green transition plans, it will be left to the next elected government to catch up with the tide
By Sam Gelder
ENERGY
“Pragmatism, not ideology,” the prime minister emphasised as he announced a U-turn on the Conservative Party’s major green policies last September.
The plans, which focused on pushing back the 2030 deadline for selling new petrol and diesel cars and delaying the phasing out of gas boilers was, Rishi Sunak insisted, about doing the sensible thing. It was about not forcing hard-up households to shell out for new kit during a cost of living crisis. It was about “sensible green leadership”.
Green campaigners didn’t agree, of course. But neither did scientists. Nor the car industry. Nor the energy sector. Though Sunak was keen to stress his government’s commitment to meeting its legally binding target to reach net zero by 2050 – he mentioned it 17 times in his speech – experts rounded on him.
“It’s not pragmatic, it’s pathetic,” said Prof Dave Reay, executive director of the University of Edinburgh’s Climate Change Institute. “This rolling back on emissions cuts for short-term political gain will undermine the transition to net zero and with it the future opportunities, prosperity and safety of the entire country.”
Prof Nicholas Stern, chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics, said it sent the “wrong signals to businesses looking to invest” in the green transition. “It is the opposite of good economics,” he said.
Car manufacturers who’ve spent big investing in electric vehicles to prepare for the 2030 deadline were angry. Lisa Brankin, the chair of Ford UK, said: “Our business needs three things from the UK government: ambition, commitment and consistency. A relaxation of 2030 would undermine all three.”
E.On, too, said easing the requirements to replace gas boilers with heat pumps would mean “missing out on the regeneration this ambition brings”.
Sunak defended his policies by talking about how far ahead the UK was compared to other major economies on the road to net zero. The country has seen the fastest reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in the G7, down almost 50%
