Fears net zero is ‘next Brexit’ as oil crisis fuels political climate divide

Analysis Fears net zero is ‘next Brexit’ as oil crisis fuels political climate divide Fiona Harvey environment editor Rising energy bills give Reform and Tories opening to attack net zero while government hesitant to make case for clean energy Could net zero become “the next Brexit”? That is the fear stalking climate advocates as the oil crisis caused by the war on Iran starts to bite. A powerful coalition of the well-funded Reform party , led by Nigel Farage, the Conservative party, some business interests, and the UK’s right-wing media , are engaged in an onslaught against the longstanding target of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 . Their central claim is that net zero is worsening the oil crisis, and that drilling in the North Sea is the remedy – despite clear evidence that more North Sea oil will do nothing to reduce UK bills , while climate action will reduce bills , and protect the UK from future energy shocks . While support for net zero remains strong among voters, with more than 60% in favour of climate action, experts warn that the same techniques that won the Brexit referendum for the Leave camp – despite it being the underdog to begin with – are now being brought to bear on the climate. “These are largely the same people [as those who campaigned for Leave] and they are using similar arguments,” says Shaun Spiers, former executive director of the Green Alliance thinktank. “They are blaming climate action for everything that’s going wrong – the cost of living, the economy – even though it’s clearly not to blame. They think it’s an easy target, it’s easy politics, and they’re presenting [scrapping the policies] to people as a panacea.” Net zero can also seem remote to people, which does not help, added James Meadway, director of the Verdant thinktank. “Like the EU, net zero is an idea that can seem big, vague, distant, technocratic and not easy to describe,” he says. “People support it, they think it’s a good thing, but there is a distanc...