From BBC
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Political correspondent
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When the UK became the first major economy in the world to commit to reducing its carbon emissions to net zero by 2050, there was so little disagreement among MPs it was simply ‘nodded through’ without a vote.
Six years on, the political climate is very different, the consensus at Westminster has shattered and reaching net zero is fast becoming a political dividing line.
Labour has committed itself to an extra deadline: reaching clean power by 2030.
The Greens and Liberal Democrats want to hit net zero faster, the Conservatives are slamming the brakes on their policy and, for the first time, there is now a mainstream party, Reform UK, openly questioning the need to reach net zero at all.
Even a former Labour prime minister, Sir Tony Blair, has said that existing global approaches to tackling climate change aren’t working (although it was later clarified that his institute supports the government’s targets).
So what’s happened?
In 2019, when the target to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 was set, public concern about climate change was very visible.
Thousands of people had joined Extinction Rebellion marches and the then-teenage activist Greta Thunberg was so influential she was invited to address MPs in Parliament.
Luke Tryl, pollster for More in Common, says he has not found a significant drop in concern about climate change or support for net zero, even if we’re not seeing people on the streets.
What has changed, he says, is the conversation around it which, after the rising cost of living
