Net-zero retreat

News that the Scottish government is to ditch its flagship target of reducing carbon emissions by 75 per cent by 2030 will come as little surprise to those who have long argued the country had set a goal it could never realistically reach. Ministers north of the border had missed eight of the last 12 annual targets, and been warned that the milestone was unachievable.

This ought to give others pause for thought, and none more so than Sir Keir Starmer. Labour’s goal of a decarbonised electricity grid by 2030 is now a clear outlier. The target would mean wind, solar and nuclear powering the grid almost exclusively within six years. It is unlikely to prove any more attainable than Holyrood’s abandoned pledge.

Shadow energy secretary Ed Miliband may speak the language of climate jingoism, insisting that Britain must have “ambition”, but the question remains how net zero can be reconciled with prosperity given the massive costs involved. Competitively priced energy is vital for economic growth. Polls have revealed that, while voters are keen to do their bit for the environment, they have less appetite for higher bills and compromised energy security.

It may not be easy for Sir Keir to row back on this pledge following his “Green Prosperity Plan” U-turn. It was finally dropped in February, but it should have been obvious that spending up to £28billion a year on green technologies was incompatible with promises of fiscal discipline.

Last year, the UK became the first country to halve its carbon emissions since 1990. The SNP has been forced to acknowledge that further efforts to reduce emissions must be realistic. The clock is ticking for Labour to come to a similar realisation.