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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Sarah Butler, Jasper Jolly, Gwyn Topham, Jillian Ambrose, Kalyeena Makortoff and Helena Horton

Was 2025 the year that business retreated from net zero?

wind turbines set amid an industrial plant as a train runs through the foreground
Wind turbines, electricity pylons and an oil refinery in Runcorn, north-west England. The drive to net zero is faltering in the UK. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Almost a year since Donald Trump returned to the White House with a rallying cry to the fossil fuel industry to “drill baby, drill”, a backlash against net zero appears to be gathering momentum.

More companies have retreated from, or watered down, their pledges to cut carbon emissions, instead prioritising shareholder returns over climate action.

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