Leading backers of London’s climate technology sector have sounded the alarm over Rishi Sunak’s lukewarm attitude to environmental targets ahead of the COP28 summit.
In a letter to the Prime Minister shared exclusively with the Standard, its signatories, which include academics at universities UCL and Imperial College London and investors Albion and Kiko Ventures, call for a U-turn by Sunak to prevent irreparable damage being done to the industry vital to building a green economy.
In September, the PM scrapped a raft of net zero policies and delayed others, including pushing back the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the UK from 2030 to 2035 and abandoning plans to force landlords to upgrade the energy efficiency of properties.
The moves sparked fury among business leaders who were planning investment based on the dropped policies. Car giant Ford said it undermined the certainty needed to make spending decisions.
In the letter, the signatories write: “Watering down the country’s climate commitments at this time risks sacrificing hard-won credibility that has been crucial to instilling business confidence and making the UK an attractive location for green investments.
“There are clear benefits to rapid action on these goals, and huge risks to slowing down. Government policies to boost clean technologies like electric vehicles and retrofitting homes to make heating more efficient can lower the cost of living and support the most vulnerable. We should recognise that investing in climate tech isn’t just the right thing to do, it also has the potential to turbocharge our economy and offer a great return on investment.”
Read the full text of the letter to Sunak here
A study by Siemens found that almost half of British businesses expect to miss their 2030 decarbonisation targets.
The UK climate tech industry is top in Europe for investment and third globally behind the US and China. More than £500 billion in venture and private equity investment is set to have been made in 2023, according to PwC. The COP28 summit starts in Dubai next week.
Gregory Dewerpe, founder and CIO of A/O, said: In delaying the ban on sales of cars using fossil fuels and gas boilers, and in backing continuing fossil fuel use by awarding oil and gas licences for the North Sea annually, the government is displaying astonishing political short-termism.
"The long-term commitment to Net Zero may be unchanged but the loosening of mid-term goals creates unnecessary uncertainty and damages credibility."
