How did net zero get so politically toxic?

In 2019, Theresa May signed the UK’s net zero target into law. “Standing by is not an option,” she declared.

The landmark pledge reflected a rare cross-party consensus: Britain should negate its greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050.

Just six years on, that consensus has shattered.

“Net zero makes us dangerously dependent on countries who don’t share our values,” standing-by advocate (and Conservative Party leader) Kemi Badenoch warned in February, ditching her party’s commitment to the pledge.

This week, Badenoch vowed to scrap the UK’s landmark climate change legislation, the Climate Change Act 2008.

It follows months of attacks from Reform UK, whose leader Nigel Farage has pledged to fight the next election at least partly on anti-environmental policy.

“This mass wave of idiocy has overtaken all,” Reform UK leader Nigel Farage told GB News. “Net zero by the time of the next election could be the next Brexit.”

Reform made gains in the 2025 local elections while hammering this message, raising the prospect that right-wing attacks on so-called “green dogma” could be repeated in 2026 and 2029.

Yet public opinion tells a different story. Two in three Britons (63%) still back the UK’s target of net zero by 2050, while an even larger majority support climate action.

So how did net zero get so politically toxic?

“Right-wing populists have seized on net zero as a new culture-war front,” says Colm Murphy, political scientist at Queen Mary University of London. “It’s less about the details of carbon budgets and more about portraying climate policy as an elite imposition.”

What is net zero?

Net zero is a balancing act: cutting emissions from human activity as close to zero as possible, while removing any unavoidable emissions from the atmosphere.

This means decarbonising energy, transport, housing and industry, while using “carbon removal” techniques – planting trees, restoring peatland and seagrass, or deploying more controversial carbon capture machines – to counteract unavoidable emissions.

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“It’s important to remember that net zero is literally the only way to stop climate change,” says Shaun Spiers of the Green Alliance. “And most people really want to stop climate change.”

Despite the political noise, Britons remain strongly supportive of climate action. Polling by Climate Barometer in May found support for the UK’s net zero target is overwhelming among Labour voters (91%) and Liberal Democrats (82%) – and even 54% of Tory voters remain in favour. Reform UK supporters are the outlier, with only 32% backing the target and 60% opposed.

But as Spiers notes, that opposition to the term doesn’t translate into hostility to green policies.

“Even Reform voters like renewables,” he said. “They support solar, offshore wind, hydro – and a majority are happy to see wind farms or solar parks in their own areas. It’s the phrase ‘net zero’ that’s toxic, not the substance.”

Becca Massey-Chase from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) agrees.

“Britain is one of the most green-supporting countries in the world across demographics,” she told Big Issue. “The political fracturing doesn’t reflect a shift in public mood.”

IPPR’s 2024 polling found that every constituency in the country bar two thought the government should be moving faster on climate change. Even among Reform voters, a majority (54%) backed new renewable-energy pylons in their area.

“Politicians dramatically underestimate public support for renewables,” Massey-Chase added.

Indeed, climate remains a secondary issue for many voters compared to concerns like immigration. A recent ECIU poll revealed that only 4% of Reform UK voters consider climate change a top priority, while 66% are focused on immigration and asylum.

So if the public hasn’t turned against climate action, who has? Certain sections of the media bear chief responsibility, Massey-Chase continues.

“There’s a very hostile portion of the press that is out for net zero,” she said. “They’re not reflecting public opinion – they’re driving the narrative. There are vested interests in the status quo.”

Carbon Brief analysis shows that UK newspapers published 45 editorials attacking Ed Miliband in the second half of 2024 – up from just 16 in the first half. GB News broadcast nearly 1,000 anti-climate segments around the 2024 general election.

“It’s a deliberate strategy,” Murphy notes. “Right-wing populists have seized on net zero as a new culture-war front. It’s about framing climate policy as an elite imposition.”

Labour shouldn’t bend to this strategy, said Spiers. He credits the party with “quiet but significant” progress on renewables since taking office.

“We’ve seen offshore wind capacity nearly double, and planning rules for onshore wind have been relaxed,” he said. “The UK is still cutting power-sector emissions faster than most other G7 countries.”

But the next phase – home heating, transport and food – will hit daily life more, leaving more room for populists to exploit discontent. Heating accounts for 18% of UK emissions, yet only 20,000 homes get low-carbon upgrades each year. Transport emissions remain stubborn, while food contributes a quarter of emissions, meaning changes to diet and waste are needed. Meeting targets will require upfront costs, new routines and lifestyle shifts, making decarbonisation politically and socially trickier.

“The first chunk of decarbonisation didn’t touch people’s daily lives as much,” Massey-Chase said. “The next chunk will. That’s where you get friction, and where populists can capitalise.”

Still, Labour ought not over-correct. Persuasion UK research shows that backtracking on net zero would be one of the most vote-losing moves Labour could make among its 2024 supporters, while pro-net zero signalling helps “stem defections to the left without costing votes to the right”.

Murphy agrees: “The risk for Labour isn’t losing votes to Reform over climate. It’s demotivating their own progressive base.”

What’s next?

The Climate Change Committee’s 2025 Progress Report recognised the new government’s ambitions and assessed that the net zero target is “within reach, provided the government stays the course”.  There are problems – for example, only 15% of homes have reached the government’s recommended energy-efficiency standards – but there is opportunity as well as risk.

“People want warmer, drier homes and safer, cleaner streets,” Massey-Chase said. “If decarbonisation is done in a way that improves daily life… it can be immensely popular.”

The challenge for Labour is to tell that story amid a hostile press captivated by the Reform party.

“We need to be mindful of backlash,” Massey-Chase added, “but we should also have confidence that the public is behind politicians on climate action.”

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