Tory group fighting net zero ‘a small minority’, say parliamentarians
Chairs of eight all-party parliamentary groups pledge to support the UK’s green agenda
MPs not fully behind net zero are “a small minority” and the government should stay committed to its goal, a cross-party group of parliamentarians has said.
Chairs of eight all-party parliamentary groups, including on climate change, net zero, clean air and fuel poverty, have written a letter to the Guardian , vowing they will “continue to support and promote ambitious environmental leadership in parliament”.
This week, the Guardian reported that the Net Zero Scrutiny Group (NZSG) of 19 Conservatives was accused of attempting to derail the government’s green agenda, linking it to the cost-of-living crisis and leading to fears of a “culture war” campaign around net zero.
The signatories to the letter, which include the Conservative MP for South Cambridgeshire, Anthony Browne, chair of the Environment APPG; the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey, chair of the Sustainable Finance APPG; and the crossbench peer Lady Hayman, co-chair of Peers for the Planet, write that they hope to “reassure your readers and the public that parliamentarians who are not fully behind net zero are a small minority”.
“We recognise the environment is now a top concern of the British public. And we recognise the spiralling climate crisis and the urgent need to transition to a more sustainable economy.
“There are different approaches to reach net zero, but we all support the goal. Delaying action will cost the country more,” they write.
The NZSG group, which has gained widespread media coverage in the past month despite being small in number, says it does not dispute climate science or the need to decarbonise. It has called for cuts to green taxes and an increase in fossil fuel production to address the energy crisis.
Two leading members have links to an organisation often described as “climate-sceptic”, and the group’s chair has been accused by a leading climate institute of using misleading and inaccurate information.
Ed Miliband, the shadow climate change and net zero secretary, said he believed the NZSG was “ignoring reality” and that a weak and divided government was unlikely to fight climate change to the best of its ability.
He told the Guardian: “The best way to avoid continued exposure to fossil fuel price crises like the one we are currently facing is to go further and faster in the green transition.
“Yet a section of the Conservative party questions this reality and the danger is a weak and divided government doesn’t take the action we need.
“The problem is that we already have a government of climate delay, which by failing to take the necessary action on everything from energy efficiency to the deployment of onshore wind has left us more vulnerable as a country.
“Now it refuses to support a windfall tax on the oil and gas companies who are making record profits during the energy crisis, whilst the British people face rocketing energy bills.”
The Green party MP and chair of the Climate Change APPG, Caroline Lucas, cautioned that the NZSG could have undue influence on No 10, especially as Boris Johnson is weakened by scandals.
Lucas, who also signed the letter, told the Guardian: “Johnson will do whatever he thinks is necessary to stay in office, including dumping climate pledges if it will buy him support from rightwing Tory MPs. He’s not only sacrificing the climate and the UK’s reputation, he’s also ditching the best way of keeping people warm and getting bills down.”
James Murray, an environmental commentator and editor at Business Green, said: “If the Net Zero Scrutiny Group and its supporters are really concerned about climate change the onus is on them to set out a credible alternative plan for tackling it.
“The challenge for supporters of the net zero transition is to highlight how decarbonisation is essential for tackling the climate crisis, while also addressing the specific and legitimate concerns around some of the short-term costs associated with transition that its opponents seek to exploit. It’s vital to show, for example, the huge financial and health benefits that come from energy efficiency upgrades and low-cost clean technologies and renewables. Done right, net zero can make MPs’ constituents richer and warmer.”
