Tory hopefuls Sunak, Mordaunt, Truss and Tugendhat commit to net zero

Chris Skidmore, who chairs the environment all-party parliamentary group, says: ‘We have seen some very worrying statements from a few candidates that sent shockwaves across the international climate scene.’ Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA

Four of the five remaining Tory leadership hopefuls – Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt, Liz Truss and Tom Tugendhat – have committed to maintaining the government’s legally binding goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050.

The contenders for the Tory leadership have signed up to a raft of pledges put forward by the Conservative Environment Network (CEN), including continuing with the post-Brexit nature-friendly farming subsidies and switching to renewable energy.