UK PM Sunak set to backtrack on net zero policies

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is preparing to water down some of Britain’s environmental commitments, saying the country must fight climate change without penalizing workers and consumers

The action comes amid growing worry over the financial burden of the government’s programs aimed at achieving net zero carbon emissions by mid-century.

A general election is planned next year, and Sunak’s Conservative Party is lagging the Labour opposition in the polls due to a cost-of-living crisis that has seen food and housing prices spiral.

Sunak will deliver a speech at Downing Street later on Wednesday.

The premier, specifically, reportedly wants to delay the 2030 ban on the sale of new gasoline and diesel vehicles and water down the plans to phase out gas boilers starting in 2035.

While the administration was committed to the net zero aim, he added in a statement late Tuesday that it will endeavor to reach it “better, more proportionately.”

A campaign by Labour mayor Sadiq Khan opposing the expansion of a vehicle pollution toll zone in the capital resulted in the Conservatives’ close victory in a west London by-election in July, which led to calls within the party to reconsider its climate promises.

Sunak said politicians “of all stripes have not been honest about costs and trade-offs” and that he would “put the long-term interests of our country before the short-term political needs of the moment”.

The government’s expected net zero rethink sparked anger among opposition lawmakers, environmental campaigners, the car industry and some Conservative MPs, setting up a possible rift in Sunak’s party.

In July, Sunak approved hundreds of new oil and gas licences in the North Sea off Britain’s east coast, angering environmentalists.

Former COP26 president and Conservative MP Alok Sharma cautioned that “resisting this agenda will not help any party economically or electorally.”

Chris Skidmore, a former Conservative energy minister who recently oversaw the government’s net zero assessment, said Sunak “still has time to think again and not make the greatest mistake of his premiership.”

According to reports, several MPs are preparing letters of no confidence if Sunak goes forward with the plan.