“If we continue on this path we risk losing the British population,” says Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The announced changes are now being slowed down and some things are simply being cancelled.
Britain is scaling back its climate protection targets. The ban on new petrol and diesel vehicles will be delayed from 2030 to 2035, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Wednesday. Furthermore, the conversion of gas boilers to heat pumps in homes will be slowed and no homeowner will be forced to improve thermal insulation. The aim was to reduce what Sunak said were unacceptable costs for citizens. Regarding previous climate protection targets, he told a press conference: “If we continue on this path, we risk losing the British population.” Then there will be no understanding of the measures.
Sunak accused the previous government of committing too quickly to climate neutrality targets without public support. His government remains committed to the goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050. This so-called climate neutrality means that, at most, as many greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere as are being removed from the atmosphere at the same time. Sunak says Britain can afford to delay climate action because it is “way ahead of every other country in the world”.
Observers see a link with next year’s parliamentary elections. Thus, Sunak is betting that the withdrawal of some measures can win over his party’s voters in the face of inflation and a stagnant economy.
(Reporting by Kate Holton and Elizabeth Piper, written by Hans Busemann, edited by Elke Ahlswede. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at [email protected] (for politics and economics) or frankfurt.newsroom @thomsonreuters .com (for companies and markets).(Portal)