In recent years, the UK's climate policy has been loosening.
On January 18, 2024, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announcedThe UK will scrap its 2035 carbon emissions target, claiming that "there will be no going to save the planet by bankrupting the UK".
Last June, a report by the UK's Climate Change Commission noted that the UK had "lost clear global leadership" on climate change and was at serious risk of failing to meet legally binding emissions targets. At the same time, the Climate Change Commission said Sunak had "reneged" on his commitment to phase out fossil fuels, agreeing to build new coal mines and support new oil and gas production in the North Sea.
As one of the countries that once shouted the loudest slogan of carbon neutrality, the UK has taken a series of actions to reduce emissions, but now it is on the reverse road.
The action is constant
In November 2020, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson brought forward the ban on the sale of new combustion engines from 2035 to 2030, at a time when the UK was making great strides towards achieving zero emissions by 2050, and the compact pace of emissions reduction demonstrated its ambitious carbon neutrality goal.
At COP26 in 2021, Johnson said he would reduce emissions by 68% from 1990 levels by the end of the decade.
As a new prime minister takes office, Britain's policy direction seems to be gradually diverging from Johnson's goals.
In September last year, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that he would postpone the implementation of some environmental protection policies, with the aim of alleviating the economic pressure on the British people in the short term. He said,The UK** has decided to postpone the entry into force of the ban on the sale of gasoline vehicles by five years to 2035It will follow the policy of Germany, France, Canada and several states in the United States to allow people to buy second-hand fuel vehicles after the ban takes effect.
At the same time, Sunak also announced:The phase-out time for off-grid oil-fired boilers will be extended from 2026 to 2035, and the phase-out target will be reduced to 80%, and the phase-out target for gas-fired boilers will also be reduced to 80%.
On January 18, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that the UK would cancel its 2035 carbon emission target, which is another European country after Germany and Denmark to withdraw from carbon neutrality. Sunak has made it clear that he will "water down" the British authorities' pursuit of carbon emission reduction policies, including extending the sales time of internal combustion engine vehicles, no longer drastically cutting gas boilers, and reducing investment in energy-saving and emission reduction industries.
Lord Nicholas Stern, former chief economist at the World Bank and the father of climate economics, said Sunak's strategy was a "very damaging mistake" that would harm the UK and the world as a whole.
The UK's cancellation of its 2035 carbon emissions target seems to have been expected in the minds of the outside world.
In July last year, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged to issue hundreds of new North Sea oil and gas licenses, saying it was part of a move to boost the country's energy independence and to distance itself from the opposition Labour Party. "Even if we reach net-zero emissions by 2050, a quarter of our energy needs will come from oil and gas energy," he said. ”
The revival of the North Sea oil and gas plan means that the UK will struggle to wean itself off fossil fuels for at least the next few decades.
Not only that, according to The Telegraph:The UK will abolish the "boiler tax".
In 2022, HM Treasury announced an additional 25% energy profit tax on extraordinary profits in the oil and gas industry in response to domestic fuel bills**.
It is reported that as part of a plan to promote the addition of 600,000 heat pumps per year by 2028, boiler manufacturers who fail to meet the heat pump installation target will be fined from April. But manufacturers have responded by raising the £120 to pass on the cost of the scheme to consumers. As a result, the UK** is planning to scrap the "boiler tax" that requires homeowners to pay for replacing old appliances and condemn boilermakers for implementing "unjustified price increases".
The move is intended to redirect the UK's energy and environmental policy and reduce the financial burden on households and industries. However, while the decision reflects concerns about the burden on consumers and manufacturers, the policy has sparked strong opposition from industry and experts, who believe that this short-sighted policy will lead to a decline in domestic energy production, increased import dependence, and ultimately higher energy costs for consumers. If this policy were to be implemented, British environmentalists would be disappointed.
The British Labour Party and the Conservative Party have always had their own views on climate and energy policy, but there is a rare "agreement" between the two sides on the current situation in the UK.
On February 8thBritish Labour PartyLeader Keir Starmer announcedAbandon around £28 billion ($35 billion) per year commitment to invest in green energyCut the annual spending target to 47£400 million ($5.9 billion), of which about £2.2 billion comes from windfall taxes on oil and gas companies and about £2.6 billion from borrowing.
However, the cuts have disappointed the UK energy sector and may anger those who want Labour to tackle climate change. The Energy Institute said Labour's cuts signaled abandoning Britain as a "clean energy superpower" and blurred the party's clear dividing line with the Conservatives.
The reason behind it
The UK has always been volatile.
Speaking at COP27, Sunak said: "The UK can slow down on climate targets because the UK is well ahead of all the rest of the world." As soon as this remark came out, it attracted heated discussions.
British political circles generally believe thatSunak's approach could break the climate policy consensus that has been formed between Labour and the Conservatives for yearsThe dispute between the two parties is bound to swell again.
In this regard, Steve Reid, the shadow environment secretary of the British Labour Party, said that delaying the goal of a "green ban" means that the UK cannot achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
Not only the Labour Party, but Sunak's move has also left the Conservative Party scratching its head. Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is also a Conservative, said: "Businesses must have a sense of certainty about our net-zero commitments. We cannot waver now, nor can we lose in any way our ambitions for this country. ”
Today, Britain is approaching, and partisan strife is surging.
It is reported that the UK ** will be held by January 28, 2025 at the latest. It is speculated that Sunak and the Conservatives may believe that the promotion and implementation of climate policies will inevitably affect the public's lifestyles and additional spending, and that delaying climate action may win public approval in the short term, thereby increasing their chances of winning.
However, Sunak denied this conjecture. He has publicly denied that his approach is related to **, and said that he had this policy idea before taking office. According to the statistics of a poll released on January 22, 2024,The Conservative Party is currently at a low level with 24 per cent support, while its rival Labour has a whopping 45 per cent support.
In addition to this, the UK is facingEconomic woesIt is also one of the reasons why Sunak has slowed down his climate targets.
Recently, the British Office for National Statistics released news: the UK's GDP fell by 03%, not only did the decline exceed expectations, but also fell 0The 1% decline has widened. The UK's GDP has shown a negative growth trend for two consecutive quarters, which means that the British economy has entered a recession period, and the economic outlook is not optimistic.
InflationIt is one of the reasons for the downturn in the British economy. Due to the high level of international commodities, the cost of imported raw materials for British enterprises has risen, and the final price has risen, resulting in a contraction in the consumption demand of the British people.
The high level of international commodities has also triggered a series of chain reactions. The UK has raised interest rates to control prices, but this has led to a sharp increase in the financing costs of British companies, and the enthusiasm for investment has weakened. This has affected the number of jobs and indirectly affected the spending power of British residents, thus accelerating the British economy into a recession.
Corporate insolvencies are on the rise due to pressure from the Bank of England's interest rate hikes. According to the UK Insolvency Service, a total of 1,769 companies went bankrupt in the UK in January, 5% higher than the same period last year.
Promoting "carbon neutrality" is a "money-burning" thing. The cost of energy transition for countries and enterprises is not a small amount, and in the face of the country's economic downturn, it is not easy for the UK to continue to promote carbon neutrality at the original pace.
The UK believes that if emission reductions are promoted in accordance with the goal of carbon neutrality, it will have a serious negative impact on the country's economic development. If it does do what it promised, it will have to reduce its energy use, which will be a huge blow to its economy. Technology meets reading
According to the UK Energy Transition Outlook 2024**, the UK will not be able to meet its mid-century decarbonisation target without acting quickly.
However, at this critical juncture, the UK has chosen to slow down the pace of meeting its environmental goals.
Although there are constant doubts and facing the dilemma of economic downturn, the UK is still thereGreen industrySpend a lot of money.
*Support is being provided to help companies transition to a resilient, low-carbon and industrially competitive future. These include:Transition to Industrial Energy** IETF) Invest 1£8.5 billionto support industrial sites to invest in more energy-efficient and low-carbon technologies. At the same time, around £300 million in tax breaks will be provided annually in exchange for businesses meeting energy efficiency targets under a new six-year climate change agreement scheme starting in 2025.
To support continued investment in the UK's renewable energy generation capacity, the UK** will also:Legislation introduces a new investment exemption for the Generator Tax (EGL). New projects that make a substantial progress decision on or after November 22, 2023 will be exempt from the EGL.
To ensure that the UK continues to build a strong ** chain and maximise global growth opportunities, on November 22 last year, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt announced:Launched 9£600 million Green Industry Growth Accelerator (GIGA). Mr Hunt said this would support investment in manufacturing capacity in the clean energy sector, with "the UK gaining the most distinct advantage in areas such as carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), hydrogen, offshore wind, power grid and nuclear".
But in the eyes of some experts and environmentalists, the UK has not done enough on climate.
James Murray of BusinessGreen said: "We welcome support, but there are two caveats: funding will not be available until 2025; And the support provided is orders of magnitude smaller than that provided by the United States and the European Union. 9.£600 million to support five different cleantech industries isn't going to really change the game. "Environmental groups agree that at this rate, the UK will not be able to catch up with the rest of the world in terms of green investment.
A slowdown in the pace of the UK's climate targets is a foregone conclusion, but the public does not seem to be buying the UK's investment initiatives. The UK, which was once far ahead on the road to carbon neutrality, is now different. In the face of endless doubts from the outside world, where will Sunak go?