There is nothing long-term about Sunak’s net zero policy U-turn

By Thomas Lane2023-09-21T06:00:00

Source: Number 10/flickr

The prime minister’s insistence he can hit legally binding targets without imposing unreasonable costs on voters is a fig leaf for inaction, writes Thomas Lane

Yesterday, Rishi Sunak confirmed the government intends to significantly water down its net zero targets. This includes pushing back the ban on new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035 and a ban on new oil fired boilers from 2026 to 2035. The 2035 ban on new gas boilers remains unchanged but this has been undermined by the announcement some properties will be exempt after this date. And private landlords now will not have to upgrade their rental properties to an EPC C ever when they were expecting to have to do so for new tenancies from 2025.

Pressure for these changes has been building for some time because the reality is polls may say that over two thirds of people support net zero but this evaporates when faced with the direct costs and a ballot box.

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