The UK’s commitment to reach net zero by 2050 is at risk. Climate ambition is stalling just as the crisis deepens. Rising emissions, record-breaking temperatures and worsening climate impacts demand urgent action – yet political momentum is fading. What was once a cross-party consensus on climate action is fracturing under economic pressure and growing public scepticism.
But this trajectory is not inevitable. The world’s strategy to reach net zero is faltering, but the goal itself remains achievable. To get back on track, we must rethink how we deliver climate action: not through sacrifice, but through solutions that make sense to households, workers and businesses alike.
That means doubling down on innovation: using AI to drive smarter, faster decarbonisation; scaling clean energy investment so that all new generation is zero emissions; and investing and delivering carbon removal technologies.
It means nature-based solutions, such as reforestation and adaptation efforts – from flood defences to urban greening – must become national priorities. And we need to simplify global action, focussing on high-impact agreements that target the key sources of emissions rather than endless summits that attempt to cover too much.
Crucially, net zero must be politically sustainable. Ending the climate culture war is essential. We need to reframe the conversation – neither ideological nor alarmist, but pragmatic, solutions-driven, and focused on delivery. A counter to both extremes of the debate.
Leaders must show that climate policy can deliver tangible, near-term benefits: lower energy bills, good jobs, healthier communities. Net zero by 2050 is achievable but only if we disrupt the path to reaching it with practical, politically viable solutions – ones that work for voters and the planet.
Lindy Fursman is director of climate and energy policy at the Tony Blair Institute
The short answer to whether the UK can achieve its 2050 net zero target is “yes”. Government advisers have stated that it’s possible and other countries are demonstrating how fast emissions can be cut.
Whether the UK will achieve the target is political. Many are struggling to get by and worry the cost-of-living crisis may never end. Some blame net zero for rising costs. But a major reason the UK has seen higher price rises than other major economies is our dependence on gas for 40 per cent of our energy, and that’s expensive. Climate action and the cost of living are connected, but not in the way some think.
The way to cut bills is to insulate homes and power cars and heating with cheaper renewable electricity. For people to feel the benefits quickly, we need change at the speed of previous tech revolutions, from fridges to the internet. This needs upfront investment, but renewable energy already attracts twice as much investment globally as oil and gas. Hitting climate targets won’t just make people better off, it’s an economic boost too.
Kemi Badenoch recently claimed there’s no plan for net zero. She’s forgotten that the UK’s world-leading blueprint to do it, covering all sectors of the economy, was published by the Conservatives four years ago. Successive Conservative leaders understood its electoral importance and, while Reform is clearly piling on the pressure, the popularity and value of aiming for this target, rather than not, is clear.
The current government won its majority promising to improve living standards and give us clean power. Delivering on both won’t be easy, but it’s possible. The majority supports a national effort to reach net zero and they expect leaders to have a plan to get there, not pretend there isn’t one.
Holly Brazier Tope is head of politics at the Green Alliance
Net zero is entirely achievable by 2050. We picked that date because it complies with binding international treaties we
have signed. We could do it in a decade if we wanted to – taking the extra time will allow us to do it far cheaper and with much less disruption to our lives.
To ensure our climate plans are realistic, we have an independent scrutiny body: the Climate Change Committee (CCC). Every five years it sets a carbon budget and has to prove that it is realistic by looking at the technology that is currently available, not at any future innovations.
This means that the CCC’s estimates tend to be quite conservative. Successive CCC reports said we were off track to achieve our carbon reduction goals only for us to then exceed the required reductions.
It isn’t just our track record that shows net zero by 2050 is possible – it’s the economics. In every carbon budget the projected cost of net zero has reduced dramatically, and the return on that investment has increased. The net zero-related parts of the economy have grown by 10 per cent since 2023, while the rest of the economy struggled to grow at all. And 94 per cent of British exports go to countries that have their own net zero targets – so the incentives for business to go green are beyond our control and growing.
The costs of not working together to prevent climate change are also increasingly clear. Floods across the UK are becoming more frequent and more damaging. New Public First research shows that this already costs us more than £6bn each year.
Elsewhere in the country, new homes are being blocked because there isn’t enough water. Not only is it possible to achieve net zero by 2050, leaving it later would be a reckless gamble.
Daisy Powell-Chandler is head of energy and environmental practice at Public First
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