Conservative leadership Which candidates are strongest on net zero?

Out of power, and with no one paying the Tories much attention, the Conservative leadership contest may seem fairly irrelevant to UK climate policy.

- Helena Horton

But the winner will make a significant difference.

In opposition, there are two ways the Conservatives can hold Labour to account on environmental commitments. One route is to champion their own green legacy; ending coal power, massively expanding offshore wind and passing legislation including the Environment Act and net zero. They could push for faster decarbonisation and hold ministers to account on nature policies.

Sam Hall, who leads the Conservative Environment Network and used to advise Michael Gove, thinks this is the right way forward: "The polling suggests that for those switching from Tory to Lib Dem and Labour there was high support for net zero. Not downplaying our achievements on the environment could have retained some of those votes. I also don't think it was the right strategy to downplay our environmental achievements to win back Reform voters as their main concern was immigration, not net zero."

The other route - favoured by Rishi Sunak during the election - is to label environmental issues as expensive and woke, to attack Labour's green measures and the new spate of onshore renewables. So which direction have the candidates chosen?