29 Sep The Truss Administration – What Can We Expect on…Climate Action
As Prime Minister Truss seeks to carve out a reputation for her government and the UK as a strong force on the world stage, all eyes are on the prospects for British foreign policy under the new leadership. Our first two blogs assessed what the people and policy in Truss’ new administration mean for the UK’s security and defence. This blog now looks to decipher what the pronouncements, actions and appointments under Truss mean for a key pillar of UK foreign policy: climate action.
Harking back to 2021, a year in which the UK held both the G7 and COP27 Presidency, climate change was at the top of the UK’s international agenda, and climate leadership was identified as a clear opportunity for the UK to define itself as an important global power post-Brexit. Fast forward to 2022, a change of leader and a global energy crisis later, there are greater challenges for climate action to retain the same level of political attention.
While Truss signed up during the Conservative Party leadership campaign to the Conservative Environment Network’s climate pledges, stressed her commitment to the UK’s net zero target and declared that she was “an environmentalist since before it was fashionable”, she also made clear that her immediate priority would be addressing the energy crisis. She indicated that she would be reviewing the means of achieving net zero to ensure it is being carried out in a pro-growth and pro-business way.
The appointment of Jacob Rees-Mogg as Minister for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy means that the head of the responsible Department is a figure with a record of challenging climate policy. He has stressed the government remains committed to net zero, but announced that it must only be done in a way that increases energy security and avoids placing undue burdens on businesses or consumers. Rees-Mogg has blamed “climate alarmism” for rising energy prices and advocates extracting “every last cubic inch of gas from the North Sea” in an effort to shore up energy security. He recently commented that “2050 is a long way off”, in reference to the UK’s net zero targets, and has supported the licensing of new oil and gas drilling in the interim. Recognising the concern, not least among Conservative MPs, that Rees-Mogg’s appointment could suggest a declining commitment to net zero, Truss has made the balancing appointment of Graham Stuart as Minister for Climate within the Business Department with the additional status of “attending Cabinet” to ensure that climate issues are not represented at Cabinet exclusively by Rees-Mogg. Stuart has historically been in favour of stronger climate action; he was one of the leading voices urging Theresa May to enshrine the 2050 net zero target into law, and was a member of the Environmental Audit Committee, the cross-party group of MPs in charge of scrutinising government environment action. In addition, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has hitherto been regarded as a strong advocate of net zero and Alok Sharma, COP26 President and climate advocate, remains in Cabinet. Equally importantly, the Prime Minister has appointed Chris Skidmore MP, a strong net zero campaigner, to review the path to net zero.
Whatever these appointments indicate, the UK’s international profile on climate will depend more on both policy decisions taken at home and on the degree of active engagement the Government shows in climate diplomacy. Some flagship climate-related policies are already being reversed, including the reversal of the moratorium on fracking, though in the Chancellor’s fiscal statement the moratorium on offshore wind was also lifted. The Government’s energy support package temporarily suspends the environmental and social costs (including “green levies”) on consumer energy bills, with these costs being transferred to general taxation. While this is a symbolic reversal of net zero-related measures, it will not have a material effect on the UK’s climate performance.
The initial range of domestic energy and climate announcements have given environmental campaigners plenty of cause for concern and the opposition has wasted no time in calling for the Government to take more action, with Labour at its conference proposing the establishment of a publicly-owned Great British Energy to develop renewables, highlighting the potential contribution to growth and employment. There has also been criticism of the Government’s lack of commitment to energy efficiency measures, particularly insulation. That said, it is premature to assess the policy direction, only a few days into the new administration and particularly when the emphasis initially is inevitably on the energy support package. With energy costs at the top of the agenda, there are clear political reasons for toning down the language on net zero, even if in the end policy does not substantially change. The appointments of Rees-Mogg, Stuart and Skidmore personify the policy tensions: while a decision to reverse the net zero commitment enshrined in law is inconceivable (and would not pass through Parliament), the Government’s practical – and presentational – commitment is yet to be demonstrated.
At the international level, there is little firm to go on at this stage. Media reports suggest that Truss is unlikely to attend COP27 in Egypt, despite the UK having chaired the previous COP. While attendance at such meetings is by no means always at Prime Ministerial level, her absence will definitely be portrayed as evidence that she places a lower priority on climate diplomacy than her predecessor, and perhaps as a sign that she would not wish to take a prominent international position at a time when domestic climate policy is under review. Again, only time will tell.
