Green Tories warn Rishi Sunak not to lead ‘electorally foolish’ retreat on climate change urging Conservative alternative to Labour including tax cuts for home improvements and strong backing for renewable energy

Rishi Sunak is facing Tory pressure to seize control of the green agenda with a raft of Conservative measures including tax breaks for energy-efficient homeowners before the next election.

As the PM prepares to jet off to Dubai for Cop 28, environmentally conscious Tories have warned that backsliding on moves to achieve Net Zero by 2050 could hurt his chances of wining the next election.

They want him to stamp Conservative authority on measures to tackle climate change rather than water down commitments made by predecessors including Boris Johnson and Theresa May.

There is consternation that senior figures have drawn the wrong conclusions from the win in the Uxbridge by-election in July. 

The Tories held the former seat of Boris Johnson by campaigning heavily against the expansion of London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone (Ulez) scheme. 

At the Conservative Party Conference in September  Mr Sunak announced a watering down of green measures, including pushing back the deadline for a ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035. 

He also moved to allow new drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea in the King’s Speech earlier this month, leading to pushback from MPs including predecessor Theresa May.

He talked about the need to spare the public from the cost of making changes like buying electric cars, and getting rid of their gas boilers.

But critics have warned the rowing back may allow Labour to own a subject that is increasingly of concern to voters.

Sam Hall, the director of the Conservative Environment Network, told MailOnline: ‘Some within the Conservative movement sought to interpret the Uxbridge by-election as a wider rejection of environmental policy. That is a mistake.

As the PM prepares to jet off to Dubai for Cop 28, environmentally conscious Tories warn that believe that backsliding on moves to achieve Net Zero by 2050 could hurt his chances of wining the next election rather that improve them.

As the PM prepares to jet off to Dubai for Cop 28, environmentally conscious Tories warn that believe that backsliding on moves to achieve Net Zero by 2050 could hurt his chances of wining the next election rather that improve them.

‘It was a very targeted rejection of the expansion of the Ulez which would have been an additional cost on people that are trying to drive into London.

‘I don’t think it said anything broader than that and I think it would be electorally foolish for the Conservatives to row back more broadly on environmental policy as a result.’

Cop28 begins on Thursday and runs until December 12 in Dubai, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the King among those attending.

Amid record-high temperatures, deluges, droughts and wildfires, leaders are convening for another round of United Nations climate talks that seek to curb a centuries-long trend of humans spewing ever more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Mr Sunak last month announced he was pushing back the ban on new petrol and diesel vehicles to 2035 and scrapping plans to force landlords to improve the energy efficiency of their properties.

The PM also promised a new exemption for around one-fifth of households from having to replace their gas boilers with low-carbon alternatives.

High food prices set to remain due to extreme weather

UK families are paying £605 more for their food than they did two years ago, with climate change being the main reason for the high prices, according to researchers.

Rising costs due to extreme weather have kept food inflation high throughout 2022 and 2023 even as energy prices decreased.

Recent flooding in the UK left cereal, potato and other crops rotting underwater, farmers have said, while extreme heat and drought in Spain has damaged olive harvests and pushed up the price of olive oil by around 50 per cent.

Other staple products like sugar, rice and tomatoes have been impacted by extreme weather, with food inflation rising to around 20 per cent this spring.

With the UK importing nearly half of its food, and climate change increasing in severity, experts from the universities of Bournemouth, Exeter and Sheffield have warned that food prices are likely to remain high.

Their report on the effect of climate and fossil fuels on food bills, commissioned by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, sets out what Professor Wyn Morgan, from the University of Sheffield, described as a ‘hidden’ cause of rising bills.

He said: ‘It is clear from the evidence that climate change is an increasingly prominent feature amongst the drivers of food price inflation.

‘In 2022, energy costs dominated the headlines and these fed through to a high headline rate of inflation for food.

‘And yet, as energy costs have fallen back, climate change has emerged as a bigger driver of inflation for food over the last two years.’

He claimed his action would save households up to £15,000 over the coming years, while Mr Sunak insisted Britain would still meet its Net Zero target by 2050.

But The Climate Change Committee, an independent body that advises the Government on emissions targets, said he provided no evidence for those claims.

‘Recent policy announcements were not accompanied by estimates of their effect on future emissions, nor evidence to back the Government’s assurance that the UK’s targets will still be met,’ said Professor Piers Forster, chair of the CCC.

‘We urge the Government to adopt greater transparency in updating its analysis at the time of major announcements.’

The assessment warned the PM’s cancellation of some Net Zero measures was ‘likely to increase both energy bills and motoring costs for households’.

‘Electric vehicles will be significantly cheaper than petrol and diesel vehicles to own and operate over their lifetimes, so any undermining of their roll-out will ultimately increase costs,’ it added.

King Charles announced in his speech on November 7 that the government will bring in new laws to mandate an annual regime for licensing new drilling.

The Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill will aim to help ‘safeguard’ the country’s energy supplies and support UK-based extraction of fossil fuels.

It would mandate the North Sea Transition Authority to undertake new oil and licensing rounds on an annual basis.

Mr Sunak says the Bill will protect jobs and strengthen Britain’s energy security by reducing its exposure to volatile international markets.

These moves all help to put clean electoral water between the Tories and Labour on climate change.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said that if his party wins power it will honour existing licences, but won’t grant any new ones.

But Green Tories believe to make a case for cutting taxes and emissions, arguing that all delays are doing is loading the cost of changes onto future generations.

‘Going into the next election it would be great to hear more conservative ideas around how we can cut taxes and go green at the same time,’ Mr Hall said.

‘A couple of ideas we are particularly interested in revolve around whether we can green stamp duty, so people wanting to retrofit their home within a couple of years of moving in, installing insulation, putting solar panels on their roofs, for example, they could get a rebate on their stamp duty.

‘Another idea would be for landlords who have got poorly insulated properties at the moment that they are renting out, pushing up their tenants’ energy bills and damaging their cost of living, allowing them to deduct the cost of those energy efficiency improvements from their rental income. It would incentivise landlords to improve their housing stock, help tenants and give landlords a more valuable asset at the end of the process as well.

‘We can show how Conservative solutions can deliver Net Zero in a way that is net affordable.’

Mr Sunak is also under pressure to embrace the business boost that climate change can offer, in terms of new technology jobs. 

Virginia Crosbie, the Tory MP for Ynys Mon (Anglesey) told MailOnline before the Autumn Statement: ‘I was pleased to hear the King’s Speech reiterate the government’s support for net zero and attracting investment into renewable energy. As the MP for the UK’s energy island, Ynys Môn, we have projects in the pipeline spanning tidal, solar, offshore wind, battery storage, and nuclear. 

‘These clean energy projects will bring well-paid, long-term employment, ensure economic rejuvenation, and provide our nation with energy security. At the same time, these renewable projects build on the Conservatives’ strong net zero record, which will be an electoral asset for our party at the next election.

‘There is strong support among my colleagues in the Conservative Environment Network caucus, which is one of the largest groupings of MPs, for further expansion of clean energy and the creation of green jobs. Clean energy offers us the opportunity to achieve the PM’s goals of having inflation, growing the economy and bringing debt down.’

Earlier this month in the King’s Speehc debate, Theresa May called on Mr Sunak to ‘press the accelerator’ on the transition to net zero and ‘not roll backwards’.

The Conservative former prime minister said the ‘best long-term decision’ the Government can make is about climate change as it underpins the ‘long-term future’ of the United Kingdom.

After accusing ministers of not being sufficiently ‘strong in ambition’ to meet the 2050 Net Zero target, she added: ‘It’s no good waking up on January 1 2045 and saying we’ve got five years to do something.’

In a subtle rebuke to Mr Sunak, Mrs May also reminded him it was her government that legislated a Net Zero emissions target by 2050.

She said: ‘I welcome the long-term ambition that the Government has expressed, its need to take long-term decisions.

‘Because good government is not about grabbing short-term decisions to get a headline, it is about doing what is in the national interest and in the longer-term future interest of this country.

‘But on that point, I was rather surprised recently when I received an email in the name of the Prime Minister sent out I think by the Conservative Party, where it said the following: from Net Zero to HS2, smoking to education, we are going to tackle the challenges that other politicians have been afraid to even talk about.

‘Now since I read that I’ve been racking my brains as to which prime minister it was (that) put Net Zero in 2050 into legislation? Answers on a postcard please.’

She went on: ‘I think in relation to the King’s Speech, and the Government’s programme on climate change and environmental degradation, the Government is missing an opportunity.

‘What we need to do now is press the accelerator on the transition to a green economy not try to draw back, and I fear that despite the fact that the King’s Speech says ministers will seek to attract record levels of investment in renewable energy sources, that that is not sufficiently strong in ambition from the Government to make sure that they are making that transition quickly enough to ensure that we reach Net Zero in 2050.’

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