How forging ahead with Net Zero could make Britain money

Last week, opposition leader Kemi Badenoch said Net Zero by 2050 was “impossible” and could not be achieved “without a serious drop in our living standards or bankrupting us,” bringing to an end a decade-long cross-party consensus on energy policy. The government is spooked, with its Energy and Net Zero Committee noting that “vocal opposition to Net Zero – including the energy transition – has grown in strength, political consensus has fractured, and with it potentially the will to carry it through.” But detailed studies by our team at Oxford show that not only is Net Zero by 2050 possible, a shift to clean energy would save the world $12trillion in energy costs, bringing down costs for consumers and industry, as well as increasing energy security. As the costs of clean energy technologies continue to plummet and their performance improves, shrinking UK policy ambition would only make UK energy prices higher and put British industry at a disadvantage. The shift from fossil fuels to clean energy technologies such as solar, wind, batteries, electrolyzers, and electric vehicles is a technology revolution. Badenoch worried that supporting clean energy would make Britain dangerously “dependent on China”.