Backlash After UK Dilutes Green Targets

Sunak
insisted
the
UK
was
already
ahead
of
allies
in
reducing
emissions
and
could
not
impose
“unacceptable
costs”
on
British
families.

“The
risk
here
to
those
of
us
who
care
about
reaching
net
zero,
as
I
do,
is
simple:
if
we
continue
down
this
path
we
risk
losing
the
consent
of
the
British
people,”
he
said.

“And
the
resulting
backlash
would
not
just
be
against
specific
policies
but
against
the
wider
mission
itself
meaning
we
might
never
achieve
our
goal.

“That’s
why
we
have
to
do
things
differently.”

He
detailed
the
plans
to
the
public
after
putting
them
to
Cabinet
ministers
in
a
hastily-arranged
call
in
response
to
a
leak
of
his
net-zero
plans.

The
Reaction

The
policy
alarmed
the
car
industry,
which
has
invested
on
the
basis
of
a
2030
shift
away
from
petrol
and
diesel.

Ford
UK
Chair
Lisa
Brankin
said:
“Our
business
needs
three
things
from
the
UK
government:
ambition,
commitment
and
consistency.

“A
relaxation
of
2030
would
undermine
all
three.”

The
erupting
business
backlash
may
have
forced
Sunak
to
announce
the
plans
sooner
than
he
intended
as
he
faced
criticism
for
disrupting
the
certainty
needed
for
firms
to
invest
in
Britain.

Chris
Norbury,
chief
executive
of
energy
firm
E.ON
SE,
said
the
move
would
be
a
“mis-step
on
many
levels”
as
he
hit
out
at
the
“false
argument”
that
green
policies
can
only
come
at
a
cost,
arguing
they
deliver
affordable
energy
while
boosting
jobs.

“From
a
business
perspective,
companies
wanting
to
invest
in
the
UK
need
long-term
certainty
to
create
the
jobs
and
economic
prosperity
the
country
needs,”
he
said.

“Equally,
in
our
homes
and
communities
we
risk
condemning
people
to
many
more
years
of
living
in
cold
and
draughty
homes
that
are
expensive
to
heat,
in
cities
clogged
with
dirty
air
from
fossil
fuels,
missing
out
on
the
economic
regeneration
this
ambition
brings.”

There
was
dismay
in
the
environmental
wing
of
the
Tory
party
but
delight
among
those
who
had
campaigned
against
the
policies
for
fear
the
price
of
going
green
will
cost
the
party
votes.

Alok
Sharma,
who
was
the
president
of
the
Cop26
climate
summit,
told
BBC
Radio
4’s
Today
programme:
“I
think
it’d
be
incredibly
damaging
for
business
confidence,
for
inward
investment,
if
the
political
consensus
that
we
have
forged
in
our
country
on
the
environment
and
climate
action
is
fractured.

“And,
frankly,
I
really
do
not
believe
that
it’s
going
to
help
any
political
party
electorally
which
chooses
to
go
down
this
path.”

Sharma
said
delays
on
policies
such
as
banning
new
petrol
and
diesel
cars
could
mean
tougher
curbs
in
other
areas.

Prominent
Tory
environmentalist
Lord
Goldsmith
said:
“Putting
aside
the
ethics
or
even
merits
surrounding
the
issue,
it
is
difficult
to
exaggerate
the
political
stupidity
of
this
economically
and
ecologically
illiterate
decision
by
the
PM.”

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