![](https://static.independent.co.uk/2022/07/07/10/535a110064b66c2b36b244f1b79ad69fY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNjU3MjcwODIw-2.40673369.jpg?width=1200&auto=webp)
Conservative Party leadership contenders have been urged to ignore the “siren voices” pushing them to ditch the UK government’s plan to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
A group of net zero sceptics on the Tory back benches are hoping to move Boris Johnson’s would-be successors away from green policies, as climate change shapes up to be a major battle in the contest to choose the next prime minister.
Senior Tory MP Steve Baker – founder of the Net Zero Scrutiny Group of backbenchers – has suggested that he would push for the next PM to dismantle the government’s climate agenda.