UK's net zero policy is irrational and doomed to fail, says former PM Blair

Tony Blair has called for ministers to change course on the climate crisis, warning a strategy that limits fossil fuels or calls for lower consumption is "doomed to fail".

- Jessica Elgot

In comments that have provoked a backlash within Labour, the former prime minister suggested the UK should focus less on renewables and more on technological solutions such as carbon capture.

Blair said people were "being asked to make financial sacrifices and changes in lifestyle when they know that their impact on global emissions is minimal". He said that "any strategy based on either 'phasing out' fossil fuels in the short term or limiting consumption is a strategy doomed to fail".

In a foreword to a report from the Tony Blair Institute, he wrote that the climate debate was "riven with irrationality" and suggested net zero was losing public support.

His comments echo criticism of net zero from the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch. The paper, written by the institute's Lindy Fursman, said net zero policies were "increasingly viewed as unaffordable, ineffective or politically toxic".