- Prime Minister Sunak announced series of changes in UK’s net-zero targets last month
- Decisions include delaying ban on sale of new petrol and diesel cars, backing new oil and gas exploration projects
- These are ‘three big decisions’ and ‘three big delays,’ says academic Amelia Hadfield
LONDON
Defining the UK’s recent changes in its net-zero targets as “big delays,” a British expert has said the country has lost its position as one of the leaders on climate action.
Despite repeated warnings by climate change experts and a number of sobering reports, current studies show that many countries are not on track to curb carbon emissions or limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.
The UN has long been pushing for credible net-zero pledges, describing the transition to a net-zero world as “one of the greatest challenges humankind has faced.”
Some 196 countries adopted the Paris Agreement to reduce global warming, while around 140 countries have announced, or are considering, net-zero targets, covering close to 90% of global emissions.
The UK was one of them, pledging to hit its net-zero target by 2050.
On Sept. 21, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a series of changes in the country’s key net-zero carbon emission targets, including delaying a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars, while also backing new oil and gas exploration in the North Sea.
Zac Goldsmith, the minister responsible for energy, climate and the environment, had resigned from his post in late June, accusing Sunak of being “uninterested” in the environment.
He also said the UK had “visibly” stepped off the world stage and withdrawn its “leadership on climate and nature.”
Sunak’s recent changes have drawn sharp criticism and been labeled a “U-turn” by many.
For Amelia Hadfield, head of the politics department at the University of Surrey, the changes are “absolutely” a U-turn.
“Prime Minister Sunak has alleged that he is not slowing down efforts to combat the climate crisis. He maintains the UK is going faster than anyone else,” she told Anadolu.
“Frankly, if you have a look at the data and the evidence, that’s just not true.”
Sunak’s announcement included delays in enforcing a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars, the phase-out of gas boilers, and legislating on electric cars.
Those are “three big decisions” and “three big delays,” said Hadfield.
She said the decisions are “a real shame,” adding that Britain has lost the leadership position that it had during the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference, or COP26, in Glasgow.
“But since 2021, I think we’ve seen worryingly slow progress on cutting emissions. I think Britain has lost the leadership on climate action shown at COP26,” said Hadfield.
She said the UK was still in a better position on climate action after leaving the EU, but Sunak’s decisions have shifted that momentum considerably.
“Now Britain faces international condemnation, including from European politicians who are accusing Britain of being a climate sink of a lack of ambition of Sunak himself and the Conservative government as sort of fossil fuel backlash,” she said.
She noted that this is “a frantic attempt” by the government to shore up its “crumbling electoral base.”
“I think it is a domestic attempt by the Conservative government led by Rishi Sunak to use climate change in a very mercenary way to actually play it for political capital, which is really immoral I think, in many ways.”
‘Clear disregard’
Doug Parr, Greenpeace UK’s policy director, said the net-zero target is starting to feel like “a pipe dream.”
Criticizing the premier for backing new oil and gas exploration in the North Sea, he said this shows Sunak’s “clear disregard” for the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced.
“The most damaging thing is that he argues he wants consumers to be making the choice, yet he has sowed confusion among the public with his announcements,” Parr told Anadolu.
He said delaying the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars may send a signal that it is okay to have diesel cars, so the downward trend in sales could reverse.
Elijah McKenzie-Jackson, a 19-year-old climate activist from the UK, pointed to the increasing frequency of extreme weather events and natural disasters as the main reason why the world should be shifting toward decarbonization.
“The UK carries a significant responsibility, given its extensive history intertwined with oil and its associated consequences,” he said.
“Progress is not a question of if, but rather when, and that time is now.”
He said if the government wants to seize the opportunity to lead a green transition, with a core focus on uplifting communities, projects like Rosebank and the West Cumbria Coal Mine “must be reversed.”
Rosebank is the UK’s biggest undeveloped oil and gas field, located in the west of Shetland, North Sea, while West Cumbria is a project that marks the UK’s first new coal mine in three decades.
“They must take accountability and action in the name of us, the people who have the power,” added McKenzie-Jackson.
