The groups behind the anti

 DeSmog provides a summary of the main pressure groups working to stall the UK's move to Net Zero (greenhouse gas production). Funded largely by vested interests, these people donate to and brief politicians and opinion-formers. 

In their introduction, the authors of the DeSmog report highlight a sinister development: confusing net zero policies with measures such as ULEZ to reduce pollution from motor traffic. There is a theoretical, but largely discredited, possibility that global warming is part of a long-term natural cycle to which human activity makes a negligible contribution. However, there is no doubt that there is a correlation between heavy traffic on roads and illnesses, mostly affecting the lungs and heart, suffered by residents, particularly children. Some conservative politicians have extrapolated from this that pursuers of green policies are "anti-motorist". Sadly, Sir Keir Starmer appears to have buckled under this pressure.

The Conservative Party’s victory at last week’s Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election has been credited to an aggressive campaign against the expansion of the Mayor of London’s ultra low emissions zone (ULEZ). 

In the days since, the wider net zero “agenda” has been pulled into the spotlight, with opponents of green action seeing an opportunity to capitalise on the by-election result. 

This net zero scepticism has quickly entered the upper echelons of Westminster politics, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak saying that policies to achieve the UK’s legally binding climate targets shouldn’t “hassle” households and should be “proportionate and pragmatic”. 

It has quickly been speculated that flagship green policies, including the proposed ban of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030, and new household energy efficiency standards, will be reviewed or delayed.

This is despite new polling showing that 57 percent of 2019 Conservative voters think that Sunak hasn’t gone far enough to tackle climate change, while only 9 percent think he has gone too far.

Labour leader Keir Starmer, meanwhile, has urged London Mayor Sadiq Khan to “reflect on” the impact of the ULEZ expansion, in the wake of the Uxbridge and South Ruislip result. 

Over recent days, we have seen how pressure is being exerted on both the Conservatives and Labour by a sprawling alliance of public figures, think tanks, pressure groups, and media outlets that are hostile to green policies and sketchy on the science of climate change.