Rishi Sunak has said he is “not in hock to ideological zealots” pressing for more urgent action on the climate emergency, as he prepares to fly to the Cop28 summit.
The prime minister said the UK was a “world leader when it comes to climate”, claiming the statistics proved it was ahead of other countries on meeting targets.
He has watered down the UK’s climate goals in recent months and tried to draw a political distinction with Labour, saying he is more pragmatic when it comes to the cost of tackling the crisis.
Sunak and the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, will be at the conference, and UK officials have briefed that the prime minister will be seeking to set the tone and show political will about meeting international climate goals.
He told broadcasters: “We’ve reduced carbon emissions in this country faster than any other major economy. Our targets for the next few years are also more ambitious than any other major economy and because of that, I thought the right thing to do was to ensure that we get to net zero in a pragmatic and proportionate way that saves working families thousands of pounds.
“I’m not in hock to ideological zealots on this topic. Of course we’re going to get to net zero, of course it’s important, but we can do that in a sensible way that saves people money and doesn’t burden them with extra costs.”
Sunak announced a U-turn on the government’s climate commitments in September, promising to put the Conservatives on a more radical path in an attempt to close the gap with Labour before the next general election.
In one of his biggest policy changes since taking office, he decided to push back deadlines to stop selling new petrol and diesel cars and to phase out gas boilers. At the time, it prompted condemnation from the automobile and energy industries.
Some senior Tories, led by Boris Johnson, also criticised the move, with the former prime minister warning his successor that he “cannot afford to falter now” because heaping uncertainty on businesses could drive up prices for consumers.
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