As someone well into the second half of his life, I’ve started to reflect more deeply on the world we’re leaving behind. I’m a passionate environmentalist. I recognise the damage my generation and those before have done to the planet, and I’m committed to doing my bit to leave it in a better state for the generations to come. Climate change is real, it’s happening, and the evidence is overwhelming.
So yes, I support the goal of Net Zero. Reducing harmful, man-made carbon emissions is absolutely vital. But I cannot, in good conscience, support the current Net Zero policy being pursued.
Why? Because it’s punitive, unrealistic, and puts Team GB at a massive disadvantage on the world stage. I had to laugh this week when I saw a senior Leicestershire politician proudly state that CO₂ only makes up 0.04% of the atmosphere, as if that such a minuscule amount made it harmless. What nonsense. If that figure doubled to 0.08%, the environmental impact would be catastrophic. The proportion might be small, but the effect is monumental.
We must reduce emissions. But setting arbitrary targets, 2030, 2050, or whatever deadline is fashionable this week, while ignoring the global context is dangerously naïve. The UK is responsible for just a tiny share of worldwide CO₂ emissions. Meanwhile, we continue to outsource our manufacturing, and our emissions, to countries like China and India, who frankly aren’t playing by the same rules.
There is a better way: a capitalist, optimistic, and patriotic one.
Remember COVID-19? There was no vaccine, until Boris Johnson ordered 60 million doses of one that didn’t exist yet. The market responded. British scientists rose to the challenge. And we led the world, because that’s what we Brits do, it’s called leadership.
We should do the same with climate change. Challenge our universities, manufacturers, and entrepreneurs to innovate. Offer generous incentives to develop green technologies, and then sell those solutions abroad. Expand our foreign aid budget, not as a handout, but to help countries like India leapfrog dirty energy and go green.
That’s how Britain can lead: not by punishing working people or tanking our economy with rigid targets, but by backing our brilliance.
So yes, I proudly support Net Zero Week. But let’s do it our way. The smart way. The British way.
