Sunak speech – live: PM set to make major net zero announcement today

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Former prime minister Boris Johnson said: “Business must have certainty about our net zero commitments.

“This country leads on tackling climate change and in creating new green technology. The green industrial revolution is already generating huge numbers of high quality jobs and helping to drive growth and level up our country.

“Business and industry – such as motor manufacturing – are rightly making vast investments in these new technologies.

“It is those investments that will produce a low carbon future – at lower costs for British families.

“It is crucial that we give those businesses confidence that government is still committed to net zero and can see the way ahead.

“We cannot afford to falter now or in any way lose our ambition for this country.”

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Tory former Cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said his concern with current climate commitments was over his “constituents being cold and poor”.

After he argued that “nobody gets elected” by putting “the costs up for people” with green measures, it was put to him that he cared more about the Conservatives getting re-elected than the longer-term net zero ambition.

Sir Jacob replied: “No, my concern is my constituents being cold and poor. I want to see the living standards of people in the UK rise and that means recognising that we can’t get to net zero tomorrow. And we can’t get to it before the technology is ready.”

He added “I wouldn’t hang my hat on a particular date” when asked whether he believed in reaching net zero by 2050.

“,”author”:{“@type”:”Person”,”name”:”Harriet Sinclair”},”publisher”:{“@type”:”Organization”,”name”:”Yahoo News”,”logo”:{“@type”:”ImageObject”,”url”:”https://s.yimg.com/rz/p/yahoo_news_en-US_h_p_news_2.png”,”width”:310,”height”:50},”url”:”https://news.yahoo.com/”}},{“@type”:”BlogPosting”,”headline”:”Sunak speech – live: PM set to make major net zero announcement today”,”datePublished”:”2023-09-20T12:50:07.000Z”,”dateModified”:”2023-09-20T12:51:30.000Z”,”articleBody”:”Rees-Mogg says Boris was ‘nut zero zealot’

Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, who served in Boris Johnson’s Cabinet, branded the former prime minister a “net zero zealot” as he backed Rishi Sunak’s moves to water down measures to hit the goal.

He told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme: “I’ve never been as much of a net zero zealot as Boris is. I mean, he genuinely believes in a more high wire approach in this area.

“I like to have a safety net under any high wire and I think what the Government’s doing now is using the safety net. And I think it’s absolutely right. I could not be more supportive of what the Prime Minister is doing under these circumstances.”

He added that “we need intelligent net zero”, meaning “getting to it in a way that people can afford and that doesn’t harm our industry”.

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The New Conservatives group, which includes members elected since the Brexit referendum, welcomed the Prime Minister’s supposed plans to water down net zero targets as a “common-sense approach”.

In a letter to Rishi Sunak, co-chairs Miriam Cates and Danny Kruger said: “We know that new Conservative voters will welcome this announcement as a common-sense approach to the environmental challenges that we face.

“They will know that our party is on the side of working people who are trying to get on, make a living, and provide for their families.

“Our message to colleagues is to recognise the impact of this policy on those voters.”

They said that electric vehicles are attractive to “better off” people and that “many of those who backed our party in 2019 are not in that situation”.

“As a party that represents people from Kingswood to Keighley, we must make sure that the policy decisions we take leave the working people of this country better and not worse off,” they said.

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Auto industry insiders have hit out at the suggestion Rishi Sunak could move to water down net zero commitments, including delaying its pledge to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “It’s disappointing that the 2030 date might be pushed back as doing so would risk slowing down the momentum the motor industry has built up and drivers’ adoption of electric vehicles (EVs).

“Regardless of what happens, we strongly hope manufacturers will continue to produce EVs in ever increasing numbers as this is ultimately what’s needed to help bring prices down for both new and second-hand cars, as cost remains one the biggest barriers to going electric. 

“At the same time, in the run-up to the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars we’d like to see the Government incentivise the cheaper end of the EV market by reintroducing a form of the plug-in car grant.

“It’s also important to remember that the 2030 deadline as it stands only stops the sale of new petrol and diesel cars which means a lot of people won’t be affected as the majority tend to buy used vehicles.”

Graham Conway, the managing director of leading UK automotive leasing firm leasing Select Car Leasing, added: “The news from Westminster has the potential to be a huge blow for the motoring industry.

“Billions of pounds have already been invested in working towards meeting the 2030 net zero targets, with advancing EV and battery technology leading the charge.

“For this deadline to be seemingly now pushed back will only lead to confusion and a corrosion of confidence amongst both manufacturers and UK motorists.”

“,”author”:{“@type”:”Person”,”name”:”Harriet Sinclair”},”publisher”:{“@type”:”Organization”,”name”:”Yahoo News”,”logo”:{“@type”:”ImageObject”,”url”:”https://s.yimg.com/rz/p/yahoo_news_en-US_h_p_news_2.png”,”width”:310,”height”:50},”url”:”https://news.yahoo.com/”}},{“@type”:”BlogPosting”,”headline”:”Sunak speech – live: PM set to make major net zero announcement today”,”datePublished”:”2023-09-20T11:53:51.000Z”,”dateModified”:”2023-09-20T12:46:17.000Z”,”articleBody”:”Rees-Mogg concerned net zero commitments will leave constituents ‘cold and poor’

Tory former Cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said his concern with current climate commitments was over his “constituents being cold and poor”.

After he argued that “nobody gets elected” by putting “the costs up for people” with green measures, it was put to him that he cared more about the Conservatives getting re-elected than the longer-term net zero ambition.

Sir Jacob replied: “No, my concern is my constituents being cold and poor. I want to see the living standards of people in the UK rise and that means recognising that we can’t get to net zero tomorrow. And we can’t get to it before the technology is ready.”

He added “I wouldn’t hang my hat on a particular date” when asked whether he believed in reaching net zero by 2050.

“,”author”:{“@type”:”Person”,”name”:”Harriet Sinclair”},”publisher”:{“@type”:”Organization”,”name”:”Yahoo News”,”logo”:{“@type”:”ImageObject”,”url”:”https://s.yimg.com/rz/p/yahoo_news_en-US_h_p_news_2.png”,”width”:310,”height”:50},”url”:”https://news.yahoo.com/”}}]} Read full article

Rishi Sunak is facing pressure over watering down ‘net zero’ policies. (Alamy)

Rishi Sunak will deliver a speech at 4.30pm amid speculation he will water down net zero commitments.

Rishi Sunak is poised to announce the watering down of climate change commitments despite a backlash from industry and the prospect of a damaging rift in the Tory party.

An announcement could mean a proposed ban on buying new petrol cars and oil boilers to help the UK meet its net zero commitments could be delayed.

The PM has said he doesn’t want to bankrupt the UK – but critics have also branded it a political move designed to curry favour with the public to boost the Tories, who are flagging in the polls.

Key developments today

The announcement has sparked condemnation from campaigners, opposition MPs and MPs in his own party, with one describing the move as Sunak’s moment of shame”.

Car giant Ford has also criticised the move, saying: “Our business needs three things from the UK government, ambition, commitment, and consistency… A relaxation of 2030 would undermine all three.”

Read latest updates of this developing story below

Show more

What is “net zero” and why does it matter?

Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide, trap heat and keep the planet warm.

But the more of these gases we have put into the atmosphere through activities such as burning fossil fuels to heat homes, drive cars and provide electricity for our lives, the more the planet warms.

These rising temperatures drive climate change, the extreme weather, rising sea levels, heatwaves, and floods that we are already seeing increase around us.

So, just as you need to turn off a tap completely to stop the level of water in a bath from continuing to rise, we need to cut emissions to zero to stop the greenhouse gas levels, and therefore temperatures, rising more to prevent more dangerous climate change.

Completely stopping emissions is extremely difficult, but there are some measures, such as planting trees, which can absorb greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, the equivalent of bailing some water out of the bath to keep the water level steady even if the tap is still running slightly.

So emissions have to be cut as much as possible, and any remaining pollution, from hard-to-tackle sectors such as aviation, needs to be “offset” by action that absorbs carbon to have the net effect of cutting emissions to zero.

Watch: The battle for rare earths needed for clean energy

To stabilise global temperature at any level, emissions must reach this “net zero” point eventually.

Scientists say that to limit temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, beyond which increasingly dangerous climate impacts will be felt, global carbon emissions must be brought down to net zero by around 2050 with deep cuts to other greenhouse gases.

And the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that significant amounts of carbon dioxide removal will not just be needed for mopping up residual emissions, but for creating negative levels of emissions to bring down temperatures again after overshooting the 1.5C level.

In the UK, the Government legislated in June 2019 that the UK must reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, by mandating a 100% cut in emissions by that date.

That requires deep cuts in emissions and therefore changes in all sectors, including how we heat our homes, how we travel, our power sector, how industry uses energy and even our diets, and efforts to capture some emissions.

The statutory advisory Climate Change Committee (CCC) has said it expects more than 100 million tonnes of emissions will be captured in 2050 to offset the pollution the UK is still putting out then.

Ways to do that include burning plant matter for energy and capturing and burying the carbon emissions, known as BECCS, technology that captures carbon dioxide directly from the air, expanding woodlands and restoring peatlands.

Delivering net zero is not without controversy, with concerns raised about the cost.