Government urged to push ahead with climate plans amid growing net zero pushback

The Government is being urged to push ahead with climate plans amid growing pressure against net zero action at home and abroad.

Sir Keir Starmer is facing calls to hold firm on Labour’s green policies in the face of growing political pushback domestically, while campaigners warn against further drilling in the North Sea.

And with the US in retreat from climate action under President Donald Trump, and the EU and China’s latest emissions-cutting pledges seen as too weak, campaigners are also urging UK leadership on the issue internationally.

It comes in the run-up to the Labour Party conference, where there will be no shortage of thorny issues for the party to grapple with.

Both Reform UK and the Conservatives have pledged to row back on the UK’s climate commitments in the last few months.

Meanwhile, the geopolitical dividing lines on climate were thrown into stark relief in the past week, as Mr Trump labelled global warming a “con job” at the UN General Assembly, and urged the UK to drill for more oil and gas in the North Sea.

But a day later, China committed to absolute emissions reduction targets for the first time, as experts highlight that climate policy is becoming a race to secure future markets, investment and jobs.

Chinese president Xi Jinping joined a UN climate summit to pledge his country would cut its emissions by 7-10% over the next decade, increase wind and solar power sixfold from 2020 levels and make pollution-free vehicles mainstream.

Campaigners said China’s pledges were insufficient, although Beijing is recognised as under-promising and over-delivering on climate commitments.

Gareth Redmond-King, from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said analysis suggested China’s emissions may well have already peaked and would then start to fall, way ahead of the 2030 date they had committed to.

At home, concerns have been raised that Labour is considering further North Sea drilling for fossil fuels, the main driver of global warming, although officials insist the party is sticking to its manifesto pledge not to issue new licences to explore new fields, while maintaining existing fields for their lifetime.

In response to reports that officials were looking at exploiting “loopholes” to increase North Sea drilling, such as allowing companies to explore new areas from existing sites, Dr Amy McDonnell, campaign director of the Zero Hour climate and nature campaign, said such measures would take “Britain backwards”.

“(Energy Secretary Ed) Miliband should ignore those urging delay and distraction,” she said.

“The real opportunity lies in doubling down on renewables, delivering green jobs, and ensuring a just transition that protects workers, communities and the climate.

“That is how Labour can provide real energy security for Britain.”

A Government spokesman said a forthcoming strategy “will set out how the Government intends to meet its manifesto commitments to ensure no new licences to explore new fields, and maintain existing fields for their lifetime”.

It comes after Mr Trump repeatedly urged the UK Government to increase North Sea drilling, despite critics of such a move saying resources are largely exploited and the oil field is in decline.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has said it is “impossible” for the UK to meet its net zero target to cut climate pollution to zero overall by 2050 and pledged to “maximise extraction” of oil and gas in the North Sea.

Reform leader Nigel Farage has also vowed to fast-track North Sea oil and gas licences and scrap net-zero targets if the party wins the next election, claiming it will save £30 billion a year.

Nonetheless, climate action is increasingly seen as an economic imperative, with UK businesses and cities holding the line on net zero ambition, according to public net zero commitment data covering nations, regions, cities and major companies.

The Net Zero Tracker – a database built by a consortium of environmental research organisations, shows that 70 of the 78 UK companies in the Forbes list of the largest 2,000 firms globally have net zero targets.

Of the UK firms with targets, almost 80% have plans to back them up while cities across the country have maintained their targets to reach net zero by 2050, the tracker shows.

While the number of climate commitments are growing globally overall, the researchers say the robustness of these targets to tackle the scale of the climate crisis remain stubbornly low.

Thomas Hale, professor of global public policy at the Blavatnik School of Government (Oxford University), said: “Despite the US federal retreat, in the EU, China and other regions climate policy is increasingly shaping competitiveness.

“Net zero is less a political battleground and more a race to secure future markets, investment and jobs.”

Mr Redmond-King said: “With the global renewables market worth trillions of dollars, and the UK’s net zero industries growing three times faster than the economy as a whole, the low-carbon transition is generating thousands of jobs in places like Grimsby thanks to clean sectors like offshore wind.”

PA has contacted the Energy Department for comment.