Kemi Badenoch has backed the government’s goal of achieving zero net emissions by 2050 and pledged not to rule out current climate commitments in an apparent turnaround in Conservative leadership.
Saffron MP Walden had previously compared the target to “unilateral economic disarmament”, but in the face of interrogation by Alok Sharma, the president of the Cop26, in rallies in parliament on Monday, she said she supported it.
The remaining five leadership candidates have now backed zero.
Chris Skidmore, chairman of the all-party parliamentary group for the environment and organizer of the boxes, said: “For most people who saw this debate, they were terrified that someone would think they had a mandate to annul it. lar our climate commitments.Alok [who chaired the hustings] it was pretty tough and made sure everyone managed to support clean zero and our climate commitments. Now all five have done it. “
Badenoch, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt and Tom Tugendhat were given about 15 minutes to present their climate plans to an audience of 40 MPs and fellow Conservatives, at the event organized by the Conservative Environment Network. It took place in the suffocating heat of the committee rooms of the House of Commons during the hottest day of the year to date.
Deputies who attended the closed meetings said they were pleasantly surprised; after a competition during which it was difficult to get candidates to even say they were committed to environmental commitments, there seems to have been a change of heart and most candidates took the opportunity with some ideas interesting environmental policy.
Rebecca Pow, a former environment minister, was asking questions to the hustings. He then said: “Everyone seems to understand, some have more knowledge than others, but they are all committed to current policies and I think they all came in very strong.”
Pow is supporting Sunak and said he thought his answers were the strongest: “He understood more than anyone how the land is used to increase biodiversity and reduce emissions, but they all made very good points, especially in things like energy efficiency. “
During the contest, not much was said about biodiversity and nature restoration. Some MPs have expressed concern that the new prime minister is not so interested in attending the Cop15 nature summit later this year. Former Chancellor Sunak said the conference in Montreal, Canada, in December was “very important,” but did not promise to attend. Truss, the foreign minister, gave the strongest response according to the public, telling them that he would not only attend, but would lead a delegation.
Truss also said he wanted to look back at the EU Habitats Directive and instead have a stronger British biodiversity target, based on animals and plants that are in danger of extinction here and not in the EU in general. Sunak surprised those present during a speech focused on finance and technology by saying that peat restoration was his “pet project” and was the equivalent of the British rainforest.
Sharma’s intervention in the Observer over the weekend in which he said he could resign if a Conservative leader did not support zero seemed to have made a difference, with Truss joking that “the top priority is to make sure Alok doesn’t give up.” .
Skidmore said there had been a change of approach after the weekend, with all the candidates wanting to look strong with the environment.
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He explained: “I think it’s the heat wave, and I also think Alok’s intervention made a difference. There were also several briefings behind the scenes. But also once Rishi and Liz support zero net commitments, suddenly everyone wants to and there is a turning point.
It looks like the candidates have spent the weekend crafting a more detailed environmental policy. Mordaunt said he would like to increase investment in marine renewables, while Tugendhat advocated increasing green industry in the UK rather than relocating jobs to countries with looser emission standards. Tugendhat also said voting against the repression of wastewater pollution was his biggest regret in parliament and said that as prime minister he will prioritize preventive measures.
Sunak said he focused on “growth, markets and innovation” as a way to reduce emissions and achieve zero net and grow the economy. He also promised to improve the country’s housing stock, saying we have the “worst houses in Europe” for energy efficiency. He said Northern Ireland had an effective energy efficiency strategy that England could copy.