{"id":67102,"date":"2023-07-25T14:46:40","date_gmt":"2023-07-25T13:46:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/?post_type=news&p=67102"},"modified":"2024-08-16T10:22:28","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T09:22:28","slug":"the-sunday-telegraph-misleads-its-readers-about-climate-policy","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/news\/the-sunday-telegraph-misleads-its-readers-about-climate-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sunday Telegraph misleads its readers about climate policy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In calling for a referendum on the UK’s net zero target, The<\/em> Sunday Telegraph<\/em> has reached a new extreme in its strident campaign against climate policies, writes Bob Ward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a leading article<\/path><\/svg><\/a> published by The Sunday Telegraph<\/em> on 23 July, ‘Britain needs a referendum on net zero’, which is the UK’s statutory target to end its contribution to global warming by reaching net zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050. Adhering to tradition<\/a>, the newspaper’s lobbying position is characteristically based on inaccurate and misleading claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, the article’s opening paragraph states: “Even by the standards of her dismal premiership, making net zero legally binding by 2050 must count among Theresa May’s very worst acts. The provision passed through Parliament with practically no debate. One of the most momentous political decisions in modern British history was nodded through with very little thought.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is, of course, utter nonsense. The Conservative Government tabled the amendment<\/path><\/svg><\/a> to the Climate Change Act (2008) on 12 June 2019. It was based on expert advice received from the statutory Committee on Climate Change, including two lengthy reports<\/path><\/svg><\/a> published on 2 May 2019. The amendment to the legislation was considered<\/path><\/svg><\/a> by the House of Lords and House of Commons Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments. It was debated in the House of Commons for almost one-and-a-half hours on 12 June 2019<\/path><\/svg><\/a> and a further one-and-a-half hours on 24 June 2019<\/path><\/svg><\/a>. It was debated in the House of Lords for about two-and-a-half hours on 26 June 2019<\/path><\/svg><\/a>. The amendment came into force on 27 June 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The newspaper also appears to forget that Boris Johnson won the General Election in December 2019 on a Conservative Party manifesto<\/path><\/svg><\/a> that promised: “We will lead the global fight against climate change by delivering on our world-leading target of Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, as advised by the independent Committee on Climate Change.” It seems the editor, Allister Heath, wants to re-run the vote on net zero until he gets the result he wants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article also states: “By mandating net zero by an arbitrary date, by embracing bans and restrictions, by lavishing the green industry with subsidies, they are engaging in economic and societal destruction on an extraordinary scale.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s review this further slew of inaccurate and misleading statements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The target of 2050 for achieving net zero is not “arbitrary” but is based on the expert advice of the statutory Committee on Climate Change contained in its report Net Zero: The UK’s contribution to stopping global warming<\/em>, published in May 2019. That report stated<\/path><\/svg><\/a>: “A net-zero GHG [greenhouse gas] target for 2050 will deliver on the commitment that the UK made by signing the Paris Agreement. It is achievable with known technologies, alongside improvements in people’s lives, and within the expected economic cost that Parliament accepted when it legislated the existing 2050 target for an 80% reduction from 1990.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It added: “A net-zero GHG target for 2050 would respond to the latest climate science and fully meet the UK’s obligations under the Paris Agreement:<\/p>\n\n\n\n