Sunak has set us back, says climate change watchdog chief

LONDON British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has “set us back” on climate change and left the UK at risk of falling behind other countries, the head of a government watchdog has said.

Chris Stark, chairman of the Climate Change Committee (CCC), told the BBC the Prime Minister had “clearly not” prioritized the issue as much as his predecessors.

He accused Sunak of sending a message to the world that the UK is now “less ambitious” than it once was.

A government spokesperson said: “Our record of net zero emissions speaks for itself.”

Stark said the country had made huge progress towards reaching the climate target of net zero by 2050 under Theresa May and Boris Johnson.

But Sunak's Downing Street sent a message to the rest of the world: “the UK is less ambitious on climate than it once was, and it is extremely difficult to recover from that.”

Reaching net zero means no longer increasing the total amount of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere. The government is bound by law to this objective.

The CCC is a statutory body which provides independent advice to ministers and assesses progress against targets.

A government spokesperson told the BBC: “We are the first major economy to halve its greenhouse gas emissions since 1990 and have enshrined in law one of the targets to combat change the most ambitious climate change of all major economies for 2035”, referring to the target of reducing emissions from the manufacturing sector. about two-thirds by 2035.

“But we must achieve our net zero emissions targets sustainably, which is why we have taken steps to protect our energy security, ease the burden on hard-working people and provide transparency about the choices involved so we can bring people with us to our climate goals.

In the autumn, Sunak delayed a ban on new petrol and diesel cars and relaxed targets for phasing out gas boilers, in a major green policy shift.

“I think it set us back,” Stark said.

“So I think we've moved from a position where we were really at the forefront, moving forward as quickly as possible on something that I believe is fundamental to the British economy, fundamentally beneficial to the people living in this country, whether or not they care about the climate.

He said the UK had successfully “decarbonised the way we produce electricity, including closing coal-fired power stations”.

But to get to net zero emissions, more needs to be done about “how we heat homes, or how we manage the industrial emissions that we have in this country, what we do with agriculture.” [and] transportation systems.

“It’s in these other areas that we see gaps,” he said.

Stark also said it was “desperately disappointing” that the SNP government in Edinburgh abandoned one of its climate targets this week. But he said the goals were “too ambitious” from the start.

“I like ambition, but it only matters if you actually achieve it,” he said.

“Now what we have seen this week is desperately disappointing from the Scots: they have essentially withdrawn the targets framework, almost in its entirety, leaving the net zero emissions target, but removing the targets for 2030 and 2040.

“And the reason they did that is because the 2030 target was too ambitious.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson told the BBC: “Scotland's net zero emissions target for 2045 is not changing.

“The proposed new Bill will retain our legal commitment until 2045 as well as annual reporting on progress, while introducing a target approach based on five-year carbon budgets, an approach used in the UK and Wales, and which aligns with the nuanced and practical approaches to reducing emissions advocated by the Committee on Climate Change.

“Our legal commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2045 remains firm, and with emissions in Scotland already almost halved, we are well placed to continue to lead on climate action that is fair, ambitious and responsive. to the emergency that awaits us.”

Stark, who is resigning from his post, called on Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer to be more “bold” on climate change.

“We regularly hear Ed Miliband [the shadow net zero secretary] “We of course talk about the transition on the Labor side, but Keir Starmer, of course, doesn't talk about it much,” he said.

A Labor Party spokesperson said the party's “number one mission is to grow the economy to improve living standards for everyone, everywhere.”

“Keir Starmer has repeatedly said that decarbonising our economy is one of many ways we will achieve this. Under Keir Starmer's leadership, Labor is delivering the most significant investment in clean energy and part of British history and provides global leadership in tackling the climate crisis.

Stark said British politicians of all stripes have a “collective fear” about talking about climate change.

“You look out the window and you see we've had, you know, the wettest 18 months on record in this country, we have the hottest year on record in the last 12 months.

“I think people around the world know that climate change is happening, but there is certainly a fear of talking about it in British politics at the moment.”

He warned against leaving a “vacuum” into which climate change denial could seep. BBC