Kemi Badenoch has U-turned a second time on her support for the government target of net zero emissions by 2050.
After telling a room of MPs at the Tory leadership climate hustings on Monday that she supported the 2019 manifesto pledge, later that evening she declared on TalkTV that she would delay it.
At the climate hustings, green Conservatives were delighted to hear the candidate, who was thought to be the most sceptical of climate measures, tell Alok Sharma that she was committed to the pledge.
Sam Hall, the director of the Conservative Environment Network, said at the time: “I was delighted to hear all five leadership contenders pledge to honour the UK’s net zero by 2050 target. Net zero is necessary to tackle dangerous climate change, win a majority for the Conservatives in 2024, ease cost of living pressures, and drive clean growth across the UK. It’s clear that the net zero debate in this leadership contest is about how – not if – we should decarbonise our economy.”
The Cop26 president, Alok Sharma, who chaired the event, was also pleased to secure a commitment from all five candidates, after previously saying he could resign under a prime minister who was not committed to net zero.
He said: “Great to chair and excellent turnout at the Conservative Environment Network hustings for MPs to grill leadership candidates on climate, nature and biodiversity issues All five candidates confirmed that they are committed to net zero by 2050.”
That evening, however, Badenoch appeared to row back on her comments, telling the News UK channel TalkTV: “Yes, there are circumstances where I would delay it. What I want to see is what is the reasonable plan to get to net zero and to solve the climate change problem.”
She even said she could consider pushing it back by decades: “I believe there is climate change and that’s something we do need to tackle, but we have to do it in a way that doesn’t bankrupt our economy. We’ve got to take people with us. What would happen if we moved it to 2060 or 2070? We’re not going to be here. Let’s be realistic.”
Badenoch has repeatedly claimed that climate measures could “bankrupt” the economy, despite many of the UK’s leading businesses saying that net zero is crucial for jobs and growth.
On Monday, she told the Guardian that not acting on climate could be more costly than acting, but “it could be even more expensive if we act but do it in the wrong way”.
When asked what the “wrong way” could be, she said “using technology that is not ready yet”.
A source close to Badenoch told the Guardian: “Kemi’s position on decarbonising has always been the same. We need to do it without bankrupting the country and sacrificing livelihoods. She doesn’t plan to drop the 2050 target.”
