Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has claimed the UK is still committed to reaching net zero by 2050, in a speech where he appeared to weaken a host of policies towards the target.
Speaking a day after Parliament went into recess, Sunak acknowledged frustrations the public has with politics, stating “much gets promised, but not enough is delivered” before talking up the short termism and lack of accountability. The Prime Minister then went on to set out a “new approach to one of the biggest challenges we face: climate change” and claimed that the UK can still lead the world in the transition, before going on to list all the policies he is now set to scrap.
Sunak claimed that if the UK carries on down the path it is currently on, the government risks losing the consent of the British people for net zero, before going on to outline what he referred to as a “more pragmatic, proportionate, and realistic approach” to the mid-century goal, one that would ease burdens on working people.
First on the chopping board was the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars and vans for 2030, with Sunak pushing this back to 2035, adding that second-hand petrol and diesel cars and vans will still be able to be sold after that date.
Next, Sunak said the government would be handing people more time to transition over to heat pumps, pledging they would “never force anyone to rip out their existing boiler and replace it with a heat pump” and that people would only have to make the switch when replacing their boiler – “and even then, not until 2035”. The Prime Minister followed this by adding in a “new exemption” to those who this will be hardest for, meaning they will “never have to switch at all”.
Assuring this does not mean he is “any less committed to decarbonising our homes”, Sunak added that the Boiler Upgrade Scheme would be increased by 50%, up to ££7,500 and never have to be repaid. This was then followed by Sunak scrapping plans for minimum EPC standards for rental properties, stating that instead the government will just carry on subsidising energy efficiency.
Continuing his speech, Sunak then went on to announce he was scrapping a number of other policies – some of which commentators have noted have never actually been government policy – including taxes on eating meat, new taxes to discourage flying, sorting rubbish into seven different bins and compulsory car sharing.
