What Kemi Badenoch said about Net Zero and why you should ignore her
By Tim Reeve, founder and managing director, NZC Solutions
Article
Published on 06/11/2025
Introduction
The UK’s necessary and legally binding aim of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 is now under serious threat from right-of-centre political parties.
Reform UK has long pledged to abolish this ambition, if elected to power. Now, during October 2025, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has given an interview to the Spectator magazine and addressed her party’s annual conference in Manchester.
On both occasions, Mrs Badenoch said the Conservatives would scrap the 2008 Climate Change Act, if she became Prime Minister after the next general election. This is the statute containing that “net zero by 2050” objective.
At those events, Mrs Badenoch provided perceived justifications for her announcement. These followed other comments sceptical about net-zero which she’d made when launching the Conservatives’ Policy Renewal Programme in London during March 2025.
In this post, we’ll explain:
On both occasions, Mrs Badenoch said the Conservatives would scrap the 2008 Climate Change Act, if she became Prime Minister after the next general election. This is the statute containing that “net zero by 2050” objective.
At those events, Mrs Badenoch provided perceived justifications for her announcement. These followed other comments sceptical about net-zero which she’d made when launching the Conservatives’ Policy Renewal Programme in London during March 2025.
In this post, we’ll explain:
- What’s in the Climate Change Act, how this has affected construction industry standards and why the new policy represents a Conservative U-turn.
- Four key questionable claims relating to the overall net zero objective which Ms Badenoch has advanced as reasons for her new policy. (She also made disputed assertions about important subsidiary topics, such as energy supply and households having to discard functioning boilers, which we’ll overlook here).
- Reaction to her announcements from opinion formers
- Lessons the construction sector should draw from this episode
Background
What’s in the Climate Change Act?
In addition to establishing that “net zero by 2050” aim, the Climate Change Act obliges governments to set UK carbon budgets. These are limits on the country’s greenhouse gas emissions which are updated every five years. In addition, the statute established the expert Climate Change Committee (CCC), which advises ministers on how their policies will affect emission levels.
How has the Climate Change Act affected construction industry standards?
The widespread adoption of the 2050 target in the UK and globally has heavily influenced the development and updating of construction industry standards and frameworks. Among these commonly applied measures are:
- The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) Net Zero Carbon Framework
- Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM)
- The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Sustainability and Net Zero Guidelines.
- UK Net Zero Building Standards
A Tory U-turn
Repealing the 2008 act would mean the Conservatives performing a significant volte-face. It was the Tories who, despite being in opposition at the time, drafted the Climate Change Bill. Its content was so uncontentious in that era that it was readily accepted as a government measure by Labour prime minister Gordon Brown.
The bill was subsequently supported by all but five Conservative MPs when the House of Commons voted on it. The act has since remained in place under Tory prime ministers Lord David Cameron, Lady Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.
Indeed, under Lady May’s stewardship, the measure was tightened in 2019. The UK became the first member of the G7 group of nations with advanced economies to make its “net zero by 2050” commitment legally binding.
Polls consistently show about two-thirds of British adults, including most Conservative voters in the 2024 general election, support achieving this aim.
We’ll now examine those four main questionable claims Mrs Badenoch has cited as justifications for scrapping the Climate Change Act.
The bill was subsequently supported by all but five Conservative MPs when the House of Commons voted on it. The act has since remained in place under Tory prime ministers Lord David Cameron, Lady Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.
Indeed, under Lady May’s stewardship, the measure was tightened in 2019. The UK became the first member of the G7 group of nations with advanced economies to make its “net zero by 2050” commitment legally binding.
Polls consistently show about two-thirds of British adults, including most Conservative voters in the 2024 general election, support achieving this aim.
We’ll now examine those four main questionable claims Mrs Badenoch has cited as justifications for scrapping the Climate Change Act.
Mrs Badenoch’s four key disputed claims
Claim one: “Why is it 2050 in the first place? No-one knows.”
Mrs Badenoch made this assertion in March 2025.
But plenty of people do know why it’s 2050, so here’s the explanation.
In their 2015 Paris Agreement, 195 global leaders pledged to contain temperature rises to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by the end of this century. The term “pre-industrial” in this context means “before the year 1900”.
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), probably the world’s supreme authority on these matters, then provided an interim aim. This committee of renowned experts said if the 1.5°C goal was to be met, merely reducing net emissions wouldn’t be enough. The world had to achieve net zero by “the early 2050s” instead.
That’s still the panel’s view.
But plenty of people do know why it’s 2050, so here’s the explanation.
In their 2015 Paris Agreement, 195 global leaders pledged to contain temperature rises to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by the end of this century. The term “pre-industrial” in this context means “before the year 1900”.
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), probably the world’s supreme authority on these matters, then provided an interim aim. This committee of renowned experts said if the 1.5°C goal was to be met, merely reducing net emissions wouldn’t be enough. The world had to achieve net zero by “the early 2050s” instead.
That’s still the panel’s view.
Claim two: “Net zero by 2050 is impossible”
Mrs Badenoch said this in March 2025. She additionally stated: “It doesn’t look like we are going to get remotely close to net zero by 2050.”
She then told the Spectator: “Net zero has become nothing more than a slogan.”
However, the CCC had said during February 2025 that the mid-century target was both “feasible and deliverable”. To prove this, the body also published its detailed “balanced pathway” to net zero by 2050. The committee has specified a stepping stone of an 87 per cent cut in UK emissions, compared to 1990 levels, by 2040.
That’s a realistic ambition, given that by last year Britain had already reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 50.3 per cent compared to its 1990 position. This information comes from the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research, compiled by the European Commission.
Indeed, the Conservative government in 2021 had published its own strategy for reaching net zero by 2050. Prime Minister Boris Johnson contributed a foreword in which he wrote that “reaching net zero is entirely possible.”
Mr Johnson was echoing the words of former Conservative business secretary Greg Clark. He said, when the 2050 target was made legally binding two years earlier, that the timescale was “necessary and feasible”.
According to the University of Strathclyde, among the many other organisations to have provided robust and achievable UK pathways to net zero by 2050 are:
She then told the Spectator: “Net zero has become nothing more than a slogan.”
However, the CCC had said during February 2025 that the mid-century target was both “feasible and deliverable”. To prove this, the body also published its detailed “balanced pathway” to net zero by 2050. The committee has specified a stepping stone of an 87 per cent cut in UK emissions, compared to 1990 levels, by 2040.
That’s a realistic ambition, given that by last year Britain had already reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 50.3 per cent compared to its 1990 position. This information comes from the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research, compiled by the European Commission.
Indeed, the Conservative government in 2021 had published its own strategy for reaching net zero by 2050. Prime Minister Boris Johnson contributed a foreword in which he wrote that “reaching net zero is entirely possible.”
Mr Johnson was echoing the words of former Conservative business secretary Greg Clark. He said, when the 2050 target was made legally binding two years earlier, that the timescale was “necessary and feasible”.
According to the University of Strathclyde, among the many other organisations to have provided robust and achievable UK pathways to net zero by 2050 are:
- Energy Systems Catapult, an independent research and technology organisation
- National Energy System Operator, which manages, balances and plans reliable supplies.
- Centre for Alternative Technology, a charity that researches and promotes sustainable solutions for environmental change.
The fact the UK has every chance of hitting its 2050 target is, of course, due largely to the Climate Change Act having proved successful.
The CCC says 70 per cent of that post-1990 British decarbonising has occurred since the statute took effect. The measure’s requirement for the UK to set rigid future carbon budgets has also led to the country staying within the first three of these.
The CCC says 70 per cent of that post-1990 British decarbonising has occurred since the statute took effect. The measure’s requirement for the UK to set rigid future carbon budgets has also led to the country staying within the first three of these.
Claim three: The Climate Change Act should be renamed the “Bankrupt Britain Act”
Mrs Badenoch said this to the Spectator and added in Manchester: “We cannot have a law which will make this country poorer.”
The Tory leader had similarly stated in March 2025 that the cost of pursuing net zero by 2050 would be “catastrophic”. She said the aim could be achieved only by spending a “multi-trillion” pound sum and “bankrupting us”.
But, during July 2025, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said implementing that CCC “balanced pathway” to 2050 would cost only £116bn net. That’s an average of £4.46bn a year. This is just 0.2 per cent of the UK’s annual gross domestic product, the total value of the goods it produces and services it provides.
That net figure was achieved by adjusting likely relevant spending to reflect expected savings. These include from decreasing bills for imported fossil fuels, whose price is determined on volatile world markets, as we develop our own clean energy sources.
Indeed, the OBR says implementing the CCC’s pathway would mean the UK enjoying net annual savingsfrom 2041 onwards. These would reach £38bn annually by 2050.
The OBR adds that by 2055 overall savings would outstrip the total price we’d paid to pursue net zero. This would be the case even before costs we’d avoided by decarbonising, such as those of severe weather events, were included.
What Mrs Badenoch would replace the Climate Change Act with, if anything, remains unclear. However, the OBR has also said that delaying action, as she clearly proposes, “could double the overall cost” of the UK reaching net zero.
The Tory leader had similarly stated in March 2025 that the cost of pursuing net zero by 2050 would be “catastrophic”. She said the aim could be achieved only by spending a “multi-trillion” pound sum and “bankrupting us”.
But, during July 2025, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said implementing that CCC “balanced pathway” to 2050 would cost only £116bn net. That’s an average of £4.46bn a year. This is just 0.2 per cent of the UK’s annual gross domestic product, the total value of the goods it produces and services it provides.
That net figure was achieved by adjusting likely relevant spending to reflect expected savings. These include from decreasing bills for imported fossil fuels, whose price is determined on volatile world markets, as we develop our own clean energy sources.
Indeed, the OBR says implementing the CCC’s pathway would mean the UK enjoying net annual savingsfrom 2041 onwards. These would reach £38bn annually by 2050.
The OBR adds that by 2055 overall savings would outstrip the total price we’d paid to pursue net zero. This would be the case even before costs we’d avoided by decarbonising, such as those of severe weather events, were included.
What Mrs Badenoch would replace the Climate Change Act with, if anything, remains unclear. However, the OBR has also said that delaying action, as she clearly proposes, “could double the overall cost” of the UK reaching net zero.
Claim four: “Other countries aren’t doing it”
Mrs Badenoch made this assertion to the Spectator. She also said: “We need to do what we can sensibly to tackle climate change, but we cannot do it alone”. The Tory leader added: “Us being the goody two-shoes of the world is not actually encouraging anyone to improve.”
These remarks echoed her statement earlier in 2025 that “other countries are not following us”.
But other countries are following us. The UK’s Climate Change Act, including the net-zero target, has now been used as a model for similar legislation around the globe. Independent research project Net Zero Tracker says over 140 other nations have now adopted similar net-zero targets. These countries contain more than 80 per cent of the world’s population.
Mrs Badenoch also failed to explain how, even if we weren’t encouraging virtue in others at present, abandoning our 2050 target would remedy this.
These remarks echoed her statement earlier in 2025 that “other countries are not following us”.
But other countries are following us. The UK’s Climate Change Act, including the net-zero target, has now been used as a model for similar legislation around the globe. Independent research project Net Zero Tracker says over 140 other nations have now adopted similar net-zero targets. These countries contain more than 80 per cent of the world’s population.
Mrs Badenoch also failed to explain how, even if we weren’t encouraging virtue in others at present, abandoning our 2050 target would remedy this.
Opinion former reaction
In addition to commentators such as environmental bodies and experts, Ms Badenoch’s pledge to repeal the Climate Change Act was roundly condemned by fellow politicians. These included many other prominent Conservatives, such as Lady May and Lord Alok Sharma, president of the 2021 Glasgow Cop26 United Nations climate change summit.
Other criticisms came from Lord Deben, who, as John Selwyn Gummer, was environment secretary in the governments of Lady Thatcher and Sir John Major. Further Tory dissenters included Lord Michael Heseltine, deputy prime minister in the Major administration.
Influential bodies to have criticised Mrs Badenoch’s proposal have included the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches. Her pledges have also been criticised by leading employers’ group the Confederation of British Industry, among other organisations.
Other criticisms came from Lord Deben, who, as John Selwyn Gummer, was environment secretary in the governments of Lady Thatcher and Sir John Major. Further Tory dissenters included Lord Michael Heseltine, deputy prime minister in the Major administration.
Influential bodies to have criticised Mrs Badenoch’s proposal have included the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches. Her pledges have also been criticised by leading employers’ group the Confederation of British Industry, among other organisations.
Lessons for construction
So, what lessons are we in construction to draw from the debate about the possible abolition of the net zero aim?
Firstly, the Labour party currently holds over 400 of the 650 House of Commons seats. It’s therefore highly unlikely there’ll be another general election before 2029. At least until that poll takes place, we’ll have a government likely to remain fully committed to the 2050 objective.
Secondly, even if the Conservatives or Reform UK take power in the future, there’ll be a limit to their influence. The Climate Change Act may go but global warming, the determination of other governments to tackle it, and international industry environmental standards certainly won’t.
There’ll therefore continue to be a particular onus on construction professionals to decarbonise. That’s because our industry is by far the worst offending business sector for producing greenhouse gas emissions. The built environment is responsible for about 40 per cent of these, both domestically and globally.
That contribution consists of two types:
Firstly, the Labour party currently holds over 400 of the 650 House of Commons seats. It’s therefore highly unlikely there’ll be another general election before 2029. At least until that poll takes place, we’ll have a government likely to remain fully committed to the 2050 objective.
Secondly, even if the Conservatives or Reform UK take power in the future, there’ll be a limit to their influence. The Climate Change Act may go but global warming, the determination of other governments to tackle it, and international industry environmental standards certainly won’t.
There’ll therefore continue to be a particular onus on construction professionals to decarbonise. That’s because our industry is by far the worst offending business sector for producing greenhouse gas emissions. The built environment is responsible for about 40 per cent of these, both domestically and globally.
That contribution consists of two types:
Even if irresponsible politicians betray future generations by welching on their responsibilities in the years ahead, therefore, the construction sector must avoid following suit. Business as usual – decarbonising for our descendants – must continue to be our watchwords.
See how our tools such as the carbon calculator software for construction and carbon reporting software for construction can help your business today.
