A pragmatic, proportionate and realistic approach to meeting our Net Zero commitments
I welcome the Prime Minister's decision to reassess our approach to delivering Net Zero.
This new approach to delivering on our Net Zero commitments, means the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars will move from 2030 to 2035, the same timeline that France, Spain and Germany have, whilst China has made no such commitment at all.
And, it's great news that no one will be forced to remove their old oil boiler to replace it with a heat pump, whilst for households where installing a heat pump would be hardest, there will be an exemption.
We all want to leave a cleaner, greener environment for our children and grandchildren, but it's quite wrong for the costs of these changes to be imposed on hard working families - costs that could have been up to £20,000 per household.
Because of the efforts put in by government, by businesses and by people, the UK's share of global emissions is less than 1%, whilst China's is 28%, so it is absolutely right that we take a more practical and democratic approach to Net Zero.
The Prime Minister has made clear he will keep our 2050 target commitments, but this new approach gives more time for new technologies to emerge, and existing technologies to become more affordable.
As the Prime Minister said: we need to have a proper conversation as a country about how we reduce our emissions and not force changes on people that they can’t afford.
Earlier today I spoke to Times Radio about these changes, and pointed out how the UK's emissions represent a tiny fraction of global CO2. The UK is leading the world in decarbonisation, and we have already reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by 50% since 1990, whilst China has seen theirs increase by over 300%.
