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The UK is losing out on green investment to other countries because Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has rolled back his net zero targets and failed to respond to the US’s Inflation Reduction Act, the country’s former head of climate watchdog has warned.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Chris Stark, who resigned last week as chairman of the statutory body of the Committee on Climate Change, said developers and capital markets were turning away from Britain – once a leader in renewable energy – towards more attractive destinations.
“We are definitely seeing signs of lost investment in other parts of the world,” Stark said, adding that the UK was “not exciting” when it came to green energy.
The CCC criticized the government’s record on climate protection under Stark’s leadership. Stark admitted he was “more open” than his predecessors but stressed he had “the evidence to back up what I’m saying.”
Stark is leaving the CCC after six years in office to lead the Carbon Trust, a group that advises the public and private sectors on achieving net zero and tracks progress.
The UK became the first major economy to set a legally binding net zero target in 2019. But Sunak has come under fire from across the political spectrum for his inaction on climate change since becoming prime minister in 2022.
Last September, Sunak abandoned a promise to force landlords to improve the energy efficiency of their homes and delayed a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars.
The government failed to attract bids from offshore wind developers in the latest round of contract auctions for new projects, indicating waning investor appetite.
Stark said the U.K. had failed to respond to the IRA, President Joe Biden’s landmark legislation to boost decarbonization through a package of measures including $369 billion in green subsidies and tax breaks.
He said the law’s impact has been “amazing” as it has pushed companies and investors to prioritize green developments in the U.S. over other countries.
“If you have the opportunity at every board table to move your North American operations toward clean things, then you’ve definitely had that discussion,” Stark said. “If the US looks exciting, then you’ve come to the right place.”
The government said the UK had attracted £300 billion of public and private low-carbon investment since 2010.
“Tools such as the Contracts for Difference (CfD) system make the UK an attractive place to invest in green industries, with companies announcing £24 billion of low-carbon investment plans since September alone,” it said.
CfD contracts help developers secure financing for projects by guaranteeing a price for their electricity production.
Stark pointed out that the UK is losing soft power globally because many countries believe the UK is backing down on climate action.
The country is no longer at the center of global discussions on climate action and is missing out on important conversations on other issues, he said.
“Climate is the lens through which we discuss a variety of global issues, and if we are not at the table, or at least not perceived as one of the most ambitious countries at the table, that is a hindrance.” [influence you can have on other issues],” he said.
While the UK has halved its greenhouse gas emissions since 1990, Stark said he is not confident the country will meet its target of reducing emissions by 68 percent by 2030.
He was also critical of the Labor opposition, saying he was “disappointed” that the party had cut its planned spending on the green transition from £28 billion a year to less than £5 billion a year. “It looked like a retreat,” he said.
While the party pursued a “very ambitious energy policy”, Labor – like the Tories – failed to address the more difficult aspects of net zero, such as how to decarbonise agriculture, industry and buildings, he said.
Labor said it would “make the most ambitious investment in clean domestic energy in Britain’s history” and added that its plans would make Britain “a global leader in tackling the climate crisis” if it wins the general election, which expected for this year.