By Sidhi Mittal

Copyright edie

Once underpinned by cross-party consensus, the UK’s low-carbon transition has become a more polarising issue.

The 2050 net-zero target, enshrined in law in 2019 at the advice of climate scientists, has been fiercely criticised by Reform UK and the Conservative Party. They argue that short-term economic growth should be pursued instead, as a priority.

At the Political Purpose Awards hosted by non-profit Nature 2030 at the House of Commons last week, London Mayor Sadiq Khan received the Pollution, Waste and Air Award for his Ultra Low Emission Zone scheme.

Accepting the award, Khan warned against allowing climate policy to be dragged into culture war debates.

“We are part of the silent majority who believe in protecting the environment and tackling the climate emergency,” he said. “Yet this issue is increasingly being used as a proxy for a culture war.

“We have the chance to create a truly sustainable, green future. But there is a fight to be won — here in London, across our country, and across the globe.”

Greenpeace UK co-executive director Areeba Hamid agreed.

“It’s quite clear that the majority of people in the UK support climate action,” she said. “If you look at the data, the majority of people are worried about climate change and they want action. Young people in particular are careful about who they buy from and who they work for.

“Brands are missing a trick if they think they can quietly walk away from climate commitments. People will notice, organisations like Greenpeace will call them out, and they will see the impact in customer behaviour and employee expectations. It will hurt their reputation.”

Growing misinformation

Nonetheless, Brits are starting to believe false claims overstating the economic cost of the low-carbon transition.

Recent research found that while half of UK adults believe the net-zero transition will benefit the nation’s economy, nearly one-fifth think it will cause harm, up from 10% in 2024.

Three-quarters said climate policies will cost them money personally, rather than save it. The shift in public perception comes as Reform UK actively campaigns against net-zero policies, challenging the transition and framing it as costly for households.

Party leader Nigel Farage’s rallying cries are ‘Net Stupid Zero’ and ‘Nut Zero’.

Reform-led councils ditch climate targets

Reform-led councils have already begun testing the party’s stance at local level. In North Northamptonshire, councillors recently scrapped the authority’s 2030 climate target despite strong opposition. Officers had advised pushing the target back to 2050 to align with the government’s legally binding national goal, but the Reform executive opted to abandon the earlier ambition altogether.

In Kent, Reform UK councillors are preparing to go further. Kent County Council is proposing to rescind its 2019 climate emergency declaration and adopt a more “open-minded but sceptical” approach. A motion due for debate this week calls for broader debate, closer scrutiny of the “business case” for renewable energy, and stronger emphasis on “energy security.”

Supporting material circulated by councillors disputes mainstream climate science, downplays the role of CO2 emissions in global warming, and claims the climate emergency is “being pushed as a means to increase state control over people’s lives.”

This aligns with Reform UK’s national agenda. The party, which gained 677 council seats at local elections earlier this year, has pledged to scrap the UK’s 2050 net-zero target, end renewable subsidies, expand fossil fuel extraction in the North Sea, and restrict land use for solar farms and rewilding projects.

At its recent party conference, Reform UK gave a platform to representatives of the American Heartland Institute, a think tank long associated with climate denial. Speakers dismissed net-zero as “Marxism” and rejected the classification of carbon dioxide as a pollutant.

Their language echoed US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly urged Britain to “get rid of windmills” and criticised windfall taxes on North Sea oil.

A fight for leadership

Other political leaders also warn that dismantling climate policy would come at a heavy price.

Speaking at the recent “Britain Talks Climate” event hosted by Climate Outreach in Westminster, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband urged sustainability leaders to “lean into this fight” over net-zero and hold their ground.

He said: “We know we’re in a fight. This moment is not the same as it has been in the last two decades, when there was a bipartisan approach.

“Social change is never achieved without a fight, and some people in politics have chosen not to support this agenda. We shouldn’t be intimidated by that. We’re going to win this fight.”

Miliband received the Green Energy and Renewables Award for his role in establishing Great British Energy at the Awards Ceremony.

Other awards highlighted progress across parties. Green MP Ellie Chowns was recognised for work on water pollution, Lib Dem Roz Savage for introducing the Climate and Nature Bill, Labour’s Matt Western for wildlife crime prevention, and Leeds City Council for its city-wide low-carbon initiatives.

The panel of judges awarded Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage MP a wooden spoon s. This award is given to politicians who have consistently delayed, obstructed, or opposed progress on environmental issues.

Farage has also pledged that party if it wins the next general election would tackle what he calls “uncontrolled illegal migration” – with moves including human rights law changes and mass deportations.

Nature 2030 chair Dominic Dyer highlighted that climate change and migration are interlinked challenges, and the solution ultimately lies in climate action. It has been estimated that 1.2 billion people could become climate migrants by 2050 in a warming scenario of 2.5C.

“Rolling back climate policy as Reform wants might give a short-term boost to the economy, but in the long term it will be disastrous,” he said. “Poverty will increase, diseases will rise, environmental catastrophes will worsen — and illegal migration will also grow, because people will be forced to move.”

This summer’s record heat across Turkey and the eastern Mediterranean, where temperatures passed 50C for the first time, was offered as evidence.

“If crops cannot be grown and health systems collapse, people will move north in huge numbers, and Europe will not be able to cope,” Dyer said.

Business and public opinion

The business community has also been urged to resist the temptation to treat climate as a passing political issue.

John Higginson, chief executive of Higginson Strategy, which runs and funds Nature 2030, said British companies could differentiate themselves globally by embracing the transition.

He said: “Trump represents a very short-term way of thinking.

“Britain and British companies can do the opposite. Climate change is real, and businesses that put themselves at the forefront of addressing those problems will be the stronger businesses in the long term.”