Explainer-in-brief: Net Zero pledges are largely absent in Conservative race
As the Conservative leadership contest unfolds, the pledge to keep on track with net zero seems to be lost. Green policies were a staple of Boris Johnson’s premiership, determined by a belief in green energy’s potential to create new jobs and economic growth.
The contenders don’t all seem to agree. Suella Braverman and Kemi Badenoch have come out respectively vowing to suspend the pledge to reach net zero by 2050 and calling the current climate policies “unilateral economic disarmament”.
Alok Sharma, who led Cop26 and famously wept over a watered down deal on climate, defined them “economically illiterate”.
Penny Mordaunt and Liz Truss have stayed quiet on green issues. Other candidates like Tom Tugendhat and Rishi Sunak are unlikely to shelve green commitments, but it looks like the next administration won’t be as enthusiastic about net zero as the previous one.