Kemi Badenoch drops Tory support for 2050 net zero target—but what comes next?
18 March 2025, 16:29
Today, Kemi Badenoch announced that the Conservative Party will be dropping its support for net zero by 2050.
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What will replace it is yet to be seen - the plethora of questions this opens up is meant to be answered by the party’s upcoming policy review.
There are some concerns about her preempting the policy review and dropping the 2050 net zero target. It risks alienating the millions of potential Conservative voters who care about the environment and want climate action - in an attempt to win over die-hard Reform voters; yet polling shows most soft Reform voters do care about climate action.
The Lib Dems are poised to snap these voters up, which explains why they were quick off the mark to criticise her comments and set the dividing lines ready for the May elections and beyond.
As a conservative environmentalist, it is of course disappointing to see the party rowing back on this signature climate commitment. Although it often gets overlooked, the Conservatives have a real legacy on environmental action. Between 2010 and 2024, four of the five largest offshore wind farms in the world were built, coal power was phased out, and renewables grew their share of the grid from 7% to over 45%. This is all without even mentioning the game-changing, wide-spanning nature restoration policies we introduced.
What we did wasn’t perfect. Some of the policy choices did make people feel like they were giving up more than they were getting. That is where Kemi is right.
Kemi is also right that the Labour government’s approach to net zero is wrong and she shouldn’t hesitate to call them out for their overpromising. Their state-led plans for energy will only make this transition unnecessarily painful and expensive for households.
But, rather than scrapping the end goal, the party should be building on its legacy from government with a credible roadmap to tackle climate change in a way that boosts growth, strengthens security, and follows free market principles.
The Conservatives can still set themselves apart from both Reform and Labour with an honest and ambitious plan. Backing private investment and businesses, whilst challenging Labour on their statist GB Energy approach. Respecting individual choice but providing incentives for clean technologies via tax cuts, rather than heavy-handed regulation. All whilst building our energy security, rightly calling out the threats of China and Russia, and working with allies to boost global food and energy security.
There is a long road ahead. The policy reviews could well end up concluding that a conservative, market-led approach to net zero is the right course of action. Until then, Kemi should do what she has done best and not rush the process.
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Max Anderson is Head of Communications at the Conservative Environment Network.
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