Peers from across the parties have joined MPs in writing to the new Prime Minister urging her to continue to support measures to reach net zero by 2050 or sooner, expand renewables, invest in insulation, and be a global champion for climate and nature on the international stage.
The group of 29 peers and MPs, from across all the major parties, ask the new PM to:
Recommit to net zero by 2050 and to getting the UK on track to meet its legally binding carbon budgets
Back the expansion of renewable power, our cheapest source of domestic energy, to increase energy sovereignty and national security
Cut energy waste by investing in a national energy efficiency scheme to rapidly insulate British homes and bring down bills permanently
Attend the upcoming UN Biodiversity summit COP15 to champion nature and recommit to our 2030 goal of halting nature decline
Chris Skidmore, the Conservative former energy minister who is chair of the Environment APPG, and coordinated the letter, told the Guardian he was not worried that Truss would row back on commitments to reduce carbon emissions despite her campaign promise to expand oil and gas production, vocal support for fracking, and opposition to onshore wind and solar farms.
“The government is pro net zero, and the prime minister has said she wants to double down on net zero, in a more business-friendly and private enterprise way,” he said. “I’m absolutely determined for people to see net zero as a mainstream economic issue, a huge opportunity for job creation and levelling up. It’s very important that net zero is not seen as a culture war, left-wing project – it’s actually an economic growth strategy