UK PM Rishi Sunak defends shift in climate policy as 'realistic' approach
Rishi Sunak on Thursday defended his shift in climate action policy as a «pragmatic and realistic approach» towards delivering the country's Net Zero target, amid criticism over proposed delays in certain measures. A day after his speech set out a pushback of petrol and diesel car ban and other cost-intensive measures to reduce the country's carbon emissions, Sunak fought back suggestions that he was filtering down the UK's climate commitments.
Amid criticism from within his own party and also from Opposition and industry, he stressed that his updated approach was designed to protect «hard-pressed British families» from «unacceptable costs».
«We're very confident — being in government, with all the information at our disposal — that we are on track to hit all our targets,» Sunak told the BBC in an interview.
«We're absolutely not slowing down efforts to combat climate change.
I'm very proud of our country's leadership. We've decarbonised faster than any other major economy in the G7 — not a fact you hear reported that often,» he said.
«For those who disagree with me — and there are plenty of people as we can see over the last day or two, lots of people who disagree with me — the question is for them, they should explain to the country why they think it's right that ordinary families up and down the country should have to fork out GBP 5,000, GBP 10,000, GBP 15,000 to make the transition earlier than is necessary,» he added.
As a year approaches since the 43-year-old Conservative Party leader took the top job at 10 Downing Street following political turmoil, his latest intervention is widely seen as a voter pitch for the next general election — expected in a year's time.
