Badenoch accused of being ‘in the pay of climate deniers’ over net zero remarks

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has been accused of being “in the pay of the climate deniers” over her comments about net zero by 2050 being “impossible”.

Mrs Badenoch said in a speech last month that net zero cannot be achieved by 2050 “without a serious drop in our living standards or by bankrupting us”, ditching the target passed by her own party.

Green Party peer Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb claimed in Parliament on Thursday that this shift in policy was down to climate sceptic lobby groups and their donations.

She said: “If you want to know where all the objections to net zero have come from, then you have to follow the money.

“The Conservative Party leader has abandoned net zero by 2050 because she is in the pay of the climate deniers in Tufton Street.

“She made the announcement immediately after receiving donations from the Global Warming Policy Foundation, and linked pressure group Net Zero Watch.

“At least four members of Kemi Badenoch’s shadow cabinet, including her shadow net zero secretary Claire Coutinho, have also received donations from funders of the group.”

Tufton Street is known for hosting a network of libertarian lobby groups and think tanks that focus on issues like Brexit and climate change policies.

The Global Warming Policy Foundation, founded by former Conservative chancellor Nigel Lawson, has lobbied against climate change policies such as net zero.

The Charity Commission said in July last year that Net Zero Watch is a wholly owned trading subsidiary of the Global Warming Policy Foundation.

According to her register of interests, Mrs Badenoch received “gifts, benefits and hospitality” worth an estimated £14,530.38 in February this year from Net Zero Watch chair Neil Record.

This came in the form of provision of workspace, accommodation and associated hospitality for a series of work meetings in Gloucestershire over six days with colleagues, and which the Tory leader’s family also attended.

Mrs Badenoch also received a £10,000 donation from Mr Record in July last year in support of her leadership campaign and two other donations in November.

These included the commissioning of research services to the estimated value of £5,175 and the part use of private property for meetings and storage of campaign material to an estimated value of £1,571.

However, a spokesperson for Ms Badenoch made it clear that there has been no donation from the Global Warming Policy Foundation.

They said: “Kemi Badenoch has said that getting to Net Zero by 2050 is impossible without bankrupting the country and working families.

“She has come to that conclusion by studying the evidence. It says everything about the fanatical green lobby that rather than face up to these facts, they resort to false smears.

“Kemi Badenoch is prepared to tell the truth to ensure our country is stronger and richer. The green lobby just want to cling to magical thinking, even if it makes everyone poorer.”

Shadow business minister Lord Offord of Gravel backed Ms Badenoch’s position, saying: “Net Zero 2050 is a laudable ambition, which was passed through the House of Commons in 70 minutes in 2019 without any real assessment of its achievability.

“It has now become a straightjacket, which is preventing the UK from resuming our place in this modern world as an industrial, technological and military powerhouse.

“In 2025, it is now clear to see that it is neither practical nor affordable, and it behoves all of us to think again, which is why I am proud that my party and my leader Kemi Badenoch has had the courage to grab this thorny nettle.”

However, former Labour Scotland Secretary Baroness Curran suggested that the Conservative Party was undergoing a shift in policy due to “internal political considerations”.

She warned: “To avoid action for reasons of political expediency, I think, is unforgivable and is an abject failure of leadership.”

The Conservative Party scrapping its net zero policy brings it more in line with Reform UK’s stance, with deputy leader Richard Tice branding renewable energy a “massive con” and blaming net zero policies for higher energy bills.

In response to the argument that the UK cannot afford its commitment to net zero by 2050, Lady Curran simply said: “We cannot afford not to”.

Energy minister Lord Hunt of Kings Heath said: “On the actual issue of whether we can afford the move to net zero, surely this has to be seen not as a cost but an investment in the future.”

He added: “We should surely turn this around and see the transition to net zero as the economic opportunity of the 21st century for this country. We have huge opportunities here.

“It’s a chance to create hundreds of thousands of good jobs, to drive new investment in all parts of the United Kingdom, benefitting people and businesses alike.”