The UK is a world leader when it comes to our ambition to reach net zero. We were one of the first countries in the world to legislate to reach net zero, and this ambition hasn’t changed with the target still 2050. We have also over-delivered on our targets, with the fastest reduction in emissions in the G7, down almost 50% since 1990.
It is due to our success in meeting and exceeding these targets that now provides the space to take a more pragmatic, proportionate, and realistic approach to reaching net zero.
It had been become increasingly clear that the policy to ban the sale of all new petrol & diesel cars by 2030 was going to hit those on the lowest incomes the hardest. That’s why it is absolutely the right decision to push this target back to 2035, the same as France and Germany.
In fact, I think Rishi Sunak deserves credit for using common sense ahead of eco dogma. Many will try and claim that this means he doesn’t care about the environment - this is absolute nonsense. Instead, the Prime Minister has demonstrated that he understands the importance of not putting unrealistic targets ahead of people’s finances and standard of living.
Now I am a strong proponent of electric vehicles. I own one and believe they are the future. But in driving one, I also understand that there are many things that need to be put in place before people have no choice but to buy one.
For instance, for those people who live on a street and don’t have a driveway, solutions on charging need to be addressed. Similarly, we need to vastly increase the number of public chargers available. We need technology to catch up.
But crucially, and this is something that the rich eco-zealots in their metropolitan bubbles often fail to understand - for many families, the cost of owning an electrical vehicle is, at the moment, too high.
Similarly, the cost of upgrading their boilers to electric heaters, or purchasing heat pumps is also too high. Particularly following a global cost of living crisis which has seen higher energy prices across the world. Whilst it is easy for well-off politicians (including the Labour mayor of London who currently charges many working class drivers £12.50 a day to drive off their driveway) to lecture others about spending money to save the planet, I am glad that the Prime Minister has recognised that this is too big an ask for many at the moment.
We must remember that our plans to meet net zero will only be a success if we take the public with us. Something the likes of Don’t Stop Oil and their criminal campaigners fail to understand.
And from somebody who is absolutely committed to reaching net zero for the future of our planet, I believe that the plan to do so in a more proportionate and understanding way, and one that brings people with us, is the best way to do so.
The UK remains (and will remain) a world leader in cutting emissions and tackling climate change, this can be done without self-inflicted economic harm.
The move to achieve a greener planet must be pragmatic, otherwise it will fail.
