UK PM Rishi Sunak plans to backtrack on some climate goals

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is set to dilute certain environmental pledges in the UK on Wednesday (September 20), insisting on the need to combat climate change while avoiding adverse impacts on workers and consumers.

The news drew wide criticism from political opponents, environmental groups and large chunks of UK industry, but was welcomed by sections of the governing Conservative Party.

Sunak issued a late-night statement on Tuesday in response to a BBC report saying the prime minister is considering extending deadlines for bans on new gasoline and diesel cars — currently set for 2030 — and on new natural-gas home heating, due in 2035.

Sunak said he would set out a “proportionate” approach to the environment. He summoned his Cabinet to an unscheduled conference call to discuss the plans ahead of a speech hastily rescheduled for Wednesday afternoon. It had been due later in the week.

“For too many years, politicians in governments of all stripes have not been honest about costs and trade-offs," Sunak said. "Instead, they have taken the easy way out, saying we can have it all.”

Sunak did not confirm details of his announcements.

He said he would keep a promise to reduce the UK's emissions of climate-warming greenhouse gases to net zero by 2050, but "in a better, more proportionate way”.

The government has previously boasted of Britain being a leader in cutting carbon emissions.

UK greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by 46 per cent from 1990 levels, mainly because of the almost complete removal of coal from electricity generation.

The government had pledged to reduce emissions by 68 per cent of 1990 levels by 2030 and to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

But with just seven years to go until the first goalpost, the government's climate advisers said last month that the pace of action is “worryingly slow”.

Sunak's decision in July to approve new North Sea oil and gas drilling also spurred critics to question his commitment to climate goals.

News of plans to backtrack broke as senior politicians and diplomats from the UK and around the world — as well as heir to the British throne Prince William — gathered at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where climate is high on the agenda. Sunak is not attending, sending his deputy instead.

Backlash

Greenpeace UK policy director Doug Parr said the prime minister was “taking the public for fools”.

“Rowing back on home insulation and commitments to help people move away from gas will ensure we stay at the mercy of volatile fossil fuels and exploitative energy companies," Parr said.

Environmentalists were not the only ones blindsided by the move. Automakers, who have invested heavily in the switch to electric vehicles, expressed frustration at the government's apparent change of plan.

“We're questioning what is the strategy here, because we need to shift the mobility of road transport away from fossil fuels towards sustainable transport,” said Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, an industry body.

Ford UK head Lisa Brankin said the company had invested 430 million pounds (USD 530 million) to build electric cars in Britain.

“Our business needs three things from the UK government: ambition, commitment and consistency. A relaxation of 2030 would undermine all three,” she said.

Analyst Tara Clee of investment firm Hargreaves Lansdown said the retreat could undermine Britain's hard-won reputation for leadership on green technology, threatening the wider economy.

“The market has been directing capital to the net zero transition and has been working in good faith,” Copp said. “These changes send a message that nothing is set in stone, and committing in earnest to a movable goalpost could be a major business risk.”

Reassessing promises

Britain's Conservatives have been openly reassessing their climate change promises after a special election result in July that was widely seen as a thumbs-down from voters to a tax on polluting cars.

The party, which trails behind the Labour opposition nationwide, unexpectedly won the contest for the suburban London Uxbridge district by focusing on a divisive levy on older vehicles imposed by London's Labour Mayor, Sadiq Khan.

Some Tories believe axing green policies is a vote-winner that can help the party avoid defeat in a national election due by the end of next year.

“We're not going to save the planet by bankrupting the British people,” Home Secretary Suella Braverman said on Wednesday.

But Conservative lawmaker Alok Sharma, who chaired the COP26 international climate conference in Glasgow in 2021, warned that watering down climate goals would be “incredibly damaging for business confidence, for inward investment”.

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

(With agency inputs)