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Former UK Minister Boris Johnson has conceded he pushed the UK’s net-zero agenda “far too fast” during his leadership. Despite once driving aggressive emissions-cutting targets and promoting renewable energy (RE), he now reflects that his push for binding global commitments outpaced what even environmental groups considered realistic.
Johnson admitted he had been “carried away” with the belief that renewables could swiftly replace fossil fuels, leading to power costs that he says now burden ordinary households. While he cautioned against abandoning net zero entirely, he argued that Labor’s 2050 carbon-neutral goal should be delayed.
He added that when the Ukraine war drove gas prices sharply higher, and with them the wholesale cost of all energy, it became obvious that the UK’s net-zero strategy needed to be adjusted.
Earlier this year, former Labor Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair urged a reassessment of the UK’s net-zero plans, arguing the current approach was unworkable. He warned that the public feels pressured with rising costs and lifestyle demands, despite knowing these efforts barely shift global emissions.
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The real cost of net zero
Currently, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband faces criticism as Britain grapples with some of the highest electricity costs in the developed world, raising questions over the affordability of his net-zero agenda. Additionally, Britain ranks as the second-most costly country for household electricity, with consumers paying roughly double the amount seen in the US.
However, Miliband maintains that investing in RE will reduce Britain’s dependence on unstable gas markets and insists net zero is not responsible for rising electricity prices. “The truth is, the reason why people’s living standards are stuck, why growth has been so low and public services are on their knees, is … trickle-down economics from the 80s, which left us with huge inequality and austerity in the 20s,” he stated.
Critics argue that Miliband’s push to transition Britain to affordable RE by 2030 could further escalate electricity costs. One of them is Claire Coutinho, the UK’s Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, who claimed that instead of lowering costs, Miliband’s policies are pushing bills higher, with wind farm investments locking in a decade-high electricity price.
“Rather than people fitting into the Government’s policy on energy, I believe a Conservative energy policy should serve the needs of the people,” she stated, adding that global emissions are rising far faster than domestic reductions can offset. “Net Zero isn’t working for Britain, and it’s not working for the climate.”
According to the Telegraph, while the UK has cut territorial carbon emissions by 53% since 1990, its overall carbon footprint has fallen just 22%, as industrial activity has moved abroad to less green locations.
Lord Hammond, former UK Chancellor, also warned against rushing to net zero, stating that the public must understand the true cost of decarbonization. The Treasury estimated it could cost the UK economy 1 to 2 trillion pounds (US$1.32 to 2.64 trillion) by 2050, funds that could have been invested elsewhere.
“I think the decarbonization agenda does not have informed popular consent, because people have been deliberately misled about the costs of this agenda,” he observed.
While lowering the carbon footprint is important, Lord Hammond stressed that the net-zero transition could be delayed. “If you look at the cost curves, the cost of decarbonizing by 2060 or 2070 is dramatically lower than the cost of decarbonizing by 2050,” he explained. “Fully decarbonizing by 2050 means replacing capital assets which are not yet life-expired.”
(Also read: Government Frees up RE Projects for Fresh Investment)
Declining economy
The EY Item Club, an independent economic forecasting group, warned that Britain’s manufacturing sector could face three consecutive years of job losses due to high energy costs, with factory output projected to decline by 0.6% this year.
According to EY’s UK chief economist Peter Arnold, soaring energy costs stem from reducing fossil fuel use without reliable alternatives. “The UK has invested heavily in renewables like wind and solar, but these are intermittent, as opposed to say nuclear power, and this can also increase pricing volatility,” he stated.
Industrial decline is set to challenge the northern regions of the UK, with Britain’s mining and quarrying sector, including oil and gas, projected to shrink by 1.8% annually over the next three years. Aberdeen, a key city in northeast Scotland, is likely to be hit hardest by the slump in the oil and gas industry.
EY noted that policy has clearly contributed to the decline of the North Sea oil and gas sector, pointing to Labor’s ban on new oil and gas licenses, higher windfall taxes on the sector, and extensions of these measures through the end of the decade.
“New investments in renewable energy are yet to, and may never fully, replace the lost activity and employment,” the group maintained.
Consequently, manufacturing employment is set to shrink, with industrial jobs expected to decline by an average of 3% annually from 2025 to 2028.
Rising energy bills have prompted Fitch, the credit ratings agency, to revise Britain’s economic outlook, cutting GDP growth to 1.1% from 1.8% and projecting inflation of 3.3% by the end of 2025, higher than the earlier forecast of 2.8%.
Still, the government insists it is shielding energy-intensive businesses from volatile global fuel prices by cutting electricity costs for manufacturers by up to 25%. It also noted that high wholesale gas prices reflect the broader fossil fuel burden on the economy.
“That is why the only answer for Britain is our mission to get us off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel prices and onto clean, homegrown power we control, to bring down bills for good,” said a government representative.
Rethinking the RE push
According to Andrew Montford, director of Net Zero Watch, the Conservatives’ plan to repeal the Climate Change Act marks a break from Westminster’s long-standing decarbonization consensus. Rising electricity costs, intensified by the cost-of-living crisis, are drawing growing public attention to the true impact of net zero policies.
“The government is now under fierce pressure from outside Parliament too, with trade unions furious over job losses in manufacturing and the North Sea oil and gas sector,” he wrote. “Claims of ‘cheap renewables’ and attempts to blame ‘volatile gas prices’ will look foolish as electricity bills keep rising.”
Meanwhile, Coutinho pledged that the Conservatives will focus on “unashamedly” delivering “cheap, abundant energy.” She vowed to repeal the Climate Change Act, contending that driving up electricity costs is the least effective way to tackle climate change.
“Whether it was EU directives, or the Climate Change Committee, or the courts who rule on the activists’ cases, none of them are accountable to the people who will lose their jobs, or people who pay their energy bills, or who need to keep the lights on,” she asserted. “We handed too much control to people who pay no price for being wrong.”
Sources:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/10/05/boris-johnson-too-far-too-fast-net-zero
https://www.conservatives.com/news/energy-is-prosperity
https://www.cityam.com/investors-beware-the-net-zero-consensus-is-dead/