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The writer is a Conservative peer and former environment secretary
China is weaponising climate change. It has understood the economic case: more investment in renewables than the rest of the world; dominating the market for solar panels; and increasingly becoming the world’s leader in electric cars.
Much of the world’s manufacturing has been exported to China, which made it the world’s biggest polluter. But those emissions are turning the corner, with China set to make its 2060 carbon neutrality commitment; investment in clean energy continues to be its main growth driver.
That’s why the UK’s Climate Change Act of 2008 was game-changing. We produced a mechanism which guaranteed continuity of economic policy in the face of climate change. It was neither a left-wing conceit nor a green crusade, but a cross-party recognition of a simple truth: climate change threatens us all. The legislation was originally written by Conservatives, supported by all opposition parties and enacted by the Labour government.
Yet the current Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch dismisses the Act her own party wrote, claiming it is a strike against growth. In promising to scrap it, she has upended 17 years of a consensus that enabled Britain to compete and made growth possible.
Two hundred years ago, sceptics opposed railways as disruptive and costly. They were wrong then, as the Conservatives are wrong now. Progress is seldom comfortable, but it is always necessary. Its cost is great, but much less than the cost of staying still.
Britain’s leadership on climate is one of our great modern achievements. We were one of the first major economies to legislate for net zero; at Glasgow’s COP26 the UK showed that we can lead through action not just words. That leadership has brought investment, jobs and confidence. It has attracted global capital, spurred regional innovation and seeded new industries across our towns and cities.
Every analysis shows the cost of inaction far exceeds the cost of action. The Climate Change Committee estimates that net zero would only cost the UK 0.2 per cent of GDP per year until 2050.
This is stifling to our economy, claims Badenoch. In fact, it is what makes us able to compete. As the Chinese have understood, it brings cheap renewable energy instead of the expensive gas she wants to expand. It brings investment and jobs and enables exports.
Instead of pulling back from net zero commitments, we should be investing in new ways to decarbonise. As the chair of the Council for Net Zero Transport, I see how far we’ve come with cars — an achievement by the Sunak government, which has led to a marked rise in EV licence registrations.
I also see where we lag behind. Commercial transport remains a weak spot. HGVs keep Britain moving but remain major polluters. Hauliers tell me their biggest problem is limited power supply infrastructure. Depot charging is expensive, dependent on grid upgrades and often delayed by planning.
And yet, British companies are rising to meet the challenge. Organisations like Aegis Energy are building networks of clean refuelling and recharging hubs across the country: this will cut tens of thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions each year. Octopus Energy and Visa have introduced a business card to help manage the costs and logistics associated with running electric fleets.
Yet the Tories would pull the rug from beneath them. These businesses compete because the Climate Change Act gave them certainty that Britain is serious about decarbonisation. To repeal the Climate Change Act, to use Badenoch’s own language, would “take” from the “makers”, removing the certainty companies were promised in 2008.
Certainty is the lifeblood of investment: what certainty can manufacturers, energy firms, tech developers and their customers find in a party that retreats on the most significant legislation of a generation? We Conservatives have always prided ourselves on pragmatic stewardship — of the economy, of the countryside and of the UK’s future. The Climate Change Act embodies that stewardship.
Technology, investment and business are on our side. All they need is the continuity in policy that the Climate Change Act makes possible. Badenoch is at odds with predecessors dating back to Margaret Thatcher, who went to the UN to demand action on climate change.
She is seeking to undo a great Conservative achievement — the end of expensive coal, the halving of emissions, and leading the world’s fight against climate change.