All remaining conservative leadership candidates have committed to maintaining the government’s pledge to hit net-zero by 2050. But after recently enduring record-breaking temperatures across the UK, serious questions are being asked about the current pledge in place, and if it can actually be delivered.
Record-breaking temperatures of over 40 degrees have brought concerns about climate change into sharp focus, raising concerns about the future of the UK’s 2050 net-zero pledge. With the Conservative leadership battle underway, commentators and pundits are keen to learn how the results, and election of a new Prime Minister, will affect this.
Despite Boris Johnson’s record on environmental policies being patchy at best, he was viewed as the champion of climate action and green issues within the conservative party, notably with the release of his 10 Point Plan for a green industry revolution. With only three candidates now remaining in the race for Prime Minister, we take a look at their previous green credentials along with the recent criticism they have faced.
Rishi Sunak
Sunak’s involvement in green policies has been limited to say the least, despite committing himself to the pledge, he has largely avoided talking about net-zero. Last year at Cop26, he pledged to rewire the entire global financial system for net-zero, forcing firms to publish plans showing how they will meet net-zero targets. But Mr Sunak has since been criticised for demanding that North Sea oil and gas companies significantly boost UK-based energy investments to avoid being hit by a windfall tax, which has happened anyway. Since then, there has been little involvement in the UK’s net-zero pledge, and no significant new green policies requiring public funding have been allowed.
Liz Truss
Despite spending two years as environment secretary during David Cameron’s tenure as PM, Liz Truss cut subsidies for solar farms in 2014, referring to them as “a blight on the landscape.” Most recently, despite backing Boris Johnson’s net-zero pledge, she has said she would cut green levies on energy bills to save households in the current cost-of-living crisis. It has been suggested that this move would make it harder to transition away from fossil fuels, slowing down the UK’s progress towards net-zero. In the recent leadership debates, she said that we need to “find better ways to deliver net-zero” that won’t “harm people and business.”
Penny Mordaunt
Penny Mordaunt appears on the surface to be the most committed to the UK’s net-zero pledge, as she recently told the Guardian “environmentalism and conservatism go hand in hand.” However, in recent leadership debates, she also alluded to cutting green levies as she described them as “clobbering families and businesses.” Mordaunt has also recently been under fire for donations taken from supposedly prominent climate sceptics. Aside from this, she has also said efforts to “go green” would help create up to three million jobs by 2030.
Throughout the battle for Tory leadership, there has been widespread criticism, most recently from Alok Sharma, the Climate Chief and COP26 president. Sharma, insinuated he would resign if the newly elected Prime Minster failed to commit to the 2050 net-zero pledge in place.
“Anyone aspiring to lead our country needs to demonstrate that they take this issue incredibly seriously, that they’re willing to continue to lead and take up the mantle that Boris Johnson started off. I want to see candidates very proactively set out their support for our net-zero agenda for green growth,” Sharma said.
Alongside this, former Prime Minister Theresa May also stated that the net-zero transition “should be at the top of the Government’s agenda” and the next Prime Minister “must not take the foot off the accelerator at all.” She further went on to say, at the annual reception for the Aldersgate Group held on the 12th July, that “if you want to deal with the cost-of-living crisis, a lot of the things you need to do for net-zero will help.”
Pressure from other party politicians has also been applied as Labour frontbencher, Ed Miliband accused Conservative Party leadership candidates of “running away” from net-zero emissions and demonstrating “climate illiteracy” in a Sky News interview on Tuesday morning.
“We’ve got an extreme heatwave, we know the climate challenge, we had COP26 last year – what are they doing? They’re not running towards net-zero, they’re running away from it. I mean, what an unserious party that is running away from a climate agreement,” Miliband said.
A recent report published by the Climate Change Committee at the end of June also issued a warning that the Government’s existing policies will not deliver its flagship net-zero carbon emissions target of 2050.
With the final two remaining candidates to be announced at around 16:00 today, it is clear that there are many challenges facing the next Prime Minister. While the climate change argument is critical, the country is also experiencing a serious cost-of-living crisis. With around 9 in 10 (91%) adults reporting their cost of living had continued to rise over the past month. Forecast in March, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) expected household incomes after tax and adjusted for inflation to start falling in Q2 2022 and to not recover until Q3 2024.
It’s clear that the successful candidate will need to hit the ground running, outlining how they plan to deliver the UK’s net-zero pledge by 2050, while also supporting those in the country impacted by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. The next few weeks should be interesting.
