Climate action will make British people’s lives more secure, the UK climate envoy has said.
Rachel Kyte’s comments come after Tory leader Kemi Badenoch claimed the country’s key climate target would “bankrupt” the country and drive a drop in living standards.
She told an audience this morning: “This government has a clear commitment to climate leadership at home and abroad.
“Why? Because this is going to make British people more secure.”
She was appointed as the UK’s special representative for climate last year by the current Labour government after it reinstated the role that the Tories had axed under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Ms Kyte said at a conference hosted by Chatham House thinktank today that climate action would boost Britons’ security by protecting them from extreme weather like flooding, which has saturated farms and homes, and by encouraging other countries to do more to slow global warming.
She was not commenting directly on Ms Badenoch’s comments, who earlier on Tuesday had declared the UK’s primary climate goal – to reach net zero emissions by 2050 – to be “impossible”.
Ms Badenoch said the target “can’t be achieved without a serious drop in our living standards or by bankrupting us”.
The Conservative leader did not publish analysis to support these claims, but they are at odds with findings from the UK’s climate advisers, the Climate Change Committee (the CCC).
Last month the CCC said reaching net zero would cost on average 0.2% of UK GDP a year until 2050, requiring upfront investment before saving money.
The CCC…
