Climate change used to be that rarest of things in British politics – an issue over which there was broad interparty consensus. That consensus saw Ed Miliband oversee the passing of the Climate Change Act in 2008, committing the UK to an 80 % reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050; Theresa May enshrining of the target of net zero in law; and Boris Johnson going further still, increasing the target for 2030 reductions to 68%.
But recently we have seen a divergence from this consensus, with Rishi Sunak pushing back the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the UK from 2030 to 2035.
In this episode, the Experts team drill down into this changing landscape. What do voters think about Sunak’s changes? How is Labour going to respond? What are the key steps to achieving net zero? And what are the economic costs involved?
Participants

Director
Paul has been the Director of the IFS since 2011. He is also currently visiting professor in the Department of Economics at University College London.

Anand Menon
Director, UKICE

Hannah White
Director, Institute for Government
Podcast details
- DOI
- 10.1920/pd.ifs.2024.0027
- Publisher
- Institute for Fiscal Studies
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