Kemi Badenoch has backed the government’s net-zero emissions target by 2050 and vowed not to scrap current climate commitments in an apparent U-turn in the Tory leadership battles on the environment.
The Saffron Walden MP has previously likened the aim to “unilateral economic disarmament”, but when questioned by Alok Sharma, president of Cop26, during the parliamentary battles on Monday, she said she supported it.
All five remaining leadership candidates have now endorsed zero.
Chris Skidmore, chair of the all-party parliamentary environment group and organizer of the arrests, said: “For most people watching this debate, they were horrified that someone would think they had a mandate to reverse our climate commitments. Alok [who chaired the hustings] was pretty tough and made sure they all signed up to support net zero and our climate commitments. Now all five have.”
Badenoch, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt and Tom Tugendhat were each given around 15 minutes to outline their climate plans to an audience of 40 Tory MPs and peers at the event organized by the Conservative Environment Network. It took place in the sweltering heat of the House of Commons committee rooms on the hottest day of the year so far.
MPs who attended the closed meetings said they were pleasantly surprised; after a race in which it was difficult to get candidates to even say they would make environmental commitments, there seems to have been a shift in opinion and most candidates rose to the occasion with some interesting ideas for environmental policy.
Rebecca Pow, former environment minister, fielded questions at the gathering. She then said: “They all seem to ‘get it’, some have more knowledge than others, but they’ve all committed to the current policies and I think they’ve all come through very strongly.”
Pou supported Sunak and said she thought his answers were the strongest: “He understood more than anyone how to use land to increase biodiversity and reduce emissions, but they all made really good points, especially about things like energy efficiency.”
Biodiversity and nature restoration were not mentioned much during the competition. Some MPs are concerned that the new prime minister will not be as keen to attend the Cop15 nature summit later this year. Former chancellor Sunak said the conference in Montreal, Canada, in December was “very important” but did not commit to attending. Truss, the foreign minister, gave the strongest response according to the audience, telling them that he would not only attend, but lead a delegation.
Truss also said he wants to look again at the EU’s habitats directive and instead have a stronger UK biodiversity target based on animals and plants that are at risk here, rather than in the EU as a whole. Sunak surprised attendees during a speech that otherwise focused on finance and technology by saying peatland restoration was his “favourite project” and was Britain’s equivalent of the rainforest.
Sharma’s intervention in the Observer at the weekend, in which he said he might resign if the Tory leader did not support net zero, appeared to have changed things, with Truss mocking her: “The main priority is to make sure Alok doesn’t resigned”.
Skidmore said there was a shift in focus after the weekend, with all candidates looking to appear strong on the environment.
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He explained: “I think it’s the heatwave and I also think Alok’s intervention made a difference. There were also a number of behind-the-scenes briefings. But also, once you’ve got Rishi and Liz supporting net zero commitments, suddenly everyone wants it and there’s a tipping point.”
The candidates appear to have spent the weekend drafting a more detailed environmental policy. Mordaunt said she would like to increase investment in marine renewable energy, while Tugendhat argued for increasing green industry in the UK, rather than moving jobs to countries with weaker emissions standards. Tugendhat also said voting against curbs on sewage pollution was his biggest regret in parliament and said he would prioritize preventive measures as prime minister.
Sunak said he focused on “growth, markets and innovation” as a way to reduce emissions and achieve net zero, as well as grow the economy. He also promised to improve the country’s housing stock, saying we have the “worst houses in Europe” in terms of energy efficiency. He said Northern Ireland had an effective energy efficiency strategy that England could copy.
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