Poll of the week: Should the 2050 net zero target be scrapped?

Telegraph

09-05-2025

Ed Miliband has long been one of Westminster's most vocal advocates for Britain's net zero agenda. But his vision of a green future is increasingly coming up against a less forgiving reality.
This week, we asked readers: Should the UK scrap its 2050 net zero target? A resounding 95 per cent of over 20,000 respondents said yes.
Telegraph readers' reasons ranged from economic survival to energy security and a growing frustration with what many see as climate policy detached from common sense. Here's why you believe the time has come to pull the plug.
'It's a slow death for British manufacturing'
For many, net zero has become synonymous with financial burden – rising energy bills, increased costs for businesses and pressure on household budgets.
'If the Government wants to grandstand about cutting the UK's one per cent share of global emissions, fine,' says Russ Hindle. 'But don't hike our energy bills – do it slower, cheaper and pay for it yourself.'
Others pointed to the impossible burden placed on British businesses. 'How can businesses compete when their fixed and variable costs are higher than rivals abroad?' asks Ian Robinson.
He continues: 'Energy prices are sky-high and driving wage inflation. It's a slow death for British manufacturing.'
Several of you think that there is a deliberate lack of honest reckoning with the economic downsides of climate policy.
Robert Henderson writes: 'For years, we've been bombarded with net zero propaganda, designed to shut down rational debate. Now that we're all feeling the financial pain, people are starting to think critically.'
'Net zero is impossible at any date'
Several readers went further, labelling net zero as 'an ideological crusade built on flawed assumptions'.
Reader John Mulvany writes: 'Net zero is impossible at any date. The whole concept is fallacious, and displacing production to China doesn't absolve anything.'
Other accused politicians of blind idealism. 'No matter how much evidence is given to them, our politicians are hell bent on throwing us off a net zero cliff without giving us a say,' argues Mrs P.
Lucy Snowy has watched the green dream falter on her doorstep: 'Our local wind farm has hardly moved for weeks. I hate to think how much it is costing UK taxpayers in subsidies. It's utter madness!'
While Bernard Ideson takes aim at the fundamental reliability of renewable energy: 'If we had a thousand more wind turbines and solar panels, two facts are inescapable. The turbines only work when the wind blows, solar best when the sun shines and not at all in the dark.
'Sailing ships were replaced by steam-powered ones so that they weren't dependent on the weather. Yet now we're heading in the opposite direction, trading reliability for uncertainty.'
'UK energy prices will bankrupt us if we don't use resources we already have'
Many readers expressed frustration that, rather than harnessing the UK's domestic energy reserves, successive governments have turned to expensive and less reliable alternatives.
Ian Brown asserts: 'Coal and gas-fired power stations would create well-paid jobs, reduce our balance of payments deficit and provide a reliable and affordable energy supply. Any previous Labour government would have jumped at it, but not this bunch of clowns. I fear we are doomed.'
Others called for a more balanced energy mix, one that doesn't dismiss renewables but doesn't rely on them entirely either.
'While I deplore net zero, renewable energy shouldn't be a dirty word,' writes Ash Delacroix. 'It's reasonable to develop renewables where it makes sense, but not at the expense of energy diversity.'
For John Griffiths, energy security is non-negotiable: 'We need long-term gas availability as a backup to renewables and nuclear. UK energy prices will bankrupt us if we don't use the resources we already have.'
Stephen Phillips echoes a similar sentiment: 'Can we just start mining coal again, grant more licences to drill in the North Sea and reconsider fracking? It's all on our doorstep, yet Miliband would rather we pay foreign suppliers.'
Several readers cited Norway as a model of pragmatism. 'Norway drills its own oil and gas. We buy it from them because Miliband closed our profitable wells,' says Peter Palmer.
'If he had any sense, he'd have copied their approach. The sooner the Climate Change Act is repealed and net zero scrapped, the better.'
Another reader adds: 'Norway is thriving. Britain feels like it's falling behind. Maybe we should stop trying to lead the world and start learning from it.'
'It's suicidal virtue signalling'
Perhaps the most recurring theme amongst reader responses was the futility of the UK acting in isolation.
'If we hit net zero tomorrow, it would make no difference,' writes Peter Adams. 'Most major polluters are doing nothing.'
Others questioned both the feasibility and the fairness of Britain bearing the brunt of the economic sacrifice.
'No one wants to pay the highest energy costs in the world to solve a problem that's likely beyond humanity's control, and certainly beyond Britain's ability to meaningfully influence,' says Hugo McEwen.
He continues: 'This is Jacobin-style communism disguised as climate policy, intended to impoverish and 'equalise' us. Nigel Farage is right: stop it now, or face a revolution.'