At least now we can all agree. The UK needs to revisit its net zero emissions target.
Nothing else is that the dangerous heat wave of the scorching heat in the UK was in line with a campaign by Tory leaders who had weak support for the country’s legal goal of zero emissions by 2050. If not, it was a momentary victory. the best. ..
It is true that candidates, such as Kemi Badenoch, who cast the most shadow on these climate change ambitions, were excluded from the race to become the next prime minister. But even former Foreign Minister Rishi Sunak, who promised to make the city “the world’s first net-zero-aligned financial center” a few months ago, tweeted a warning that it was “too noisy and too fast.” Foreign Minister Liz Truss said it must be done in a way that “does no harm to people or businesses.”
Meanwhile, as the country suffocated, the court ruled that the government’s Net Zero plan lacked enough details to assess its credibility and ordered a new strategy to be developed by March of this year. rice field. This is the same as a recent report by the Independent Commission on Climate Change, stating that “there is little evidence of compliance” with the overall goal.
There is increasing evidence that the public wants politicians to do more. According to a new study by the Climate Energy Intelligence Unit, 70% of British believe that climate change is causing unusually high temperatures, and more than half need to be more ambitious for governments and societies to solve problems. It states that there is. In addition, centre-right think tanks found in April that 64% supported the net zero target. This is more than seven times the opposite rate.
Of course, conservative applicants are targeting a specific niche audience. YouGov states that only 4% of party members implemented emission reductions among the top three priorities. However, the think-tank Green Alliance has received widespread support for green policy this week among Tory voters in 2019, including the recognition that low-carbon energy can improve UK security while reducing costs. I found that. .. The wind on the ground looked good. Nuclear projects are not so important to politicians.
On the other hand, the need to move to net zero is widely accepted in the business world. Considered as a risk management exercise, especially in finance, the exercise revealed by the Bank of England becomes more difficult, costly, unpredictable, and fires, storms, and floods when later steps are taken. Physical effects such as worsen. .. Of a changed climate.
Elsewhere, there is a sense of opportunity. MakeUK, a manufacturing industry group, says companies are increasingly citing NetZero as a way to improve access to investment funds, reduce energy consumption, and develop new products.
Indeed, the British Chamber of Commerce last year found that only one in seven companies set emission reduction targets, and SMEs were lagging behind. However, a 2020 BCC survey found that half of the respondents still saw decarbonization as a competitive advantage, rising to three-quarters for large companies.
After several years of government changes in trade policy, one of the strengths of the legally mandated net-zero target was its assumed certainty. The UK’s record of implementing all forms of long-term economic planning is horrifying, and the premature demise of 2017’s industrial strategy is the latest in its long run. The transition promised hundreds of thousands of new jobs and was one of the three pillars of an alternative growth plan.
Will Tanner, Onward’s director, said: Even if you allow a lot of greenwashing, clear priority promises, investment incentives, job creation and new industry development should appeal to both politicians and businesses. However, repeated complaints from businesses were the lack of details about government plans. When MakeUK evaluated various government strategies in this area, only two out of eleven were considered to be on track.
In this case, it is no exaggeration to say that the business community is more likely to agree with the court than the candidate. I have to say it very clearly.
helen.thomas@ft.com
@helentbiz