As Tories vow to scrap failed targets', how do their climate claims stack up?

"Kemi Badenoch has vowed to repeal the Climate Change Act if the Conservatives win the next election. Under the landmark legislation, which was passed with the almost unanimous support of the Conservative party under David Cameron in 2008, carbon budgets are set for many years beyond the current government's remit, binding future governments to climate policies, though it does not specify what those policies should be. The Tory leader says she wants to scrap those failed targets. But Ed Matthew, the UK programme director for the thinktank E3G, said: This is a new low point for Kemi Badenoch as she blows up the Conservative party's credibility for protecting nature and the climate in her quest to ape the far-right policies of Nigel Farage. This announcement is anti-science, anti-growth, anti-health and anti-nature. It is the kind of policy that Vladimir Putin would be recommending."

"So we thought we would take a closer look at the Tory claims: The Conservatives are announcing their plans to prioritise cheap energy and economic growth and halt the deindustrialisation of Britain by replacing the Climate Change Act 2008 (CCA). The CCA, passed by Ed Miliband under the last Labour government, has forced governments to introduce burdensome rules and regulations that have increased energy bills for families and businesses, eaten away at Britain's manufacturing sector, and contributed to a worsening in economic growth. Kemi Badenoch fails to mention that Cameron played a key role in the legislation. He and his advisers put out their own versions of potential legislation, ahead of Labour's bill, which were similar to the final bill. Cameron led the entire Tory party, minus five rebels, through the House of Commons lobby to vote for it. The Conservative party, under Kemi Badenoch's leadership, is focused on making sure our economy and our businesses are given the right regulatory framework to thrive and ensuring that elected politicians can make the right decisions for Britain's"

Kemi Badenoch has pledged to repeal the Climate Change Act if the Conservatives win the next election. The Climate Change Act 2008, passed with near-unanimous Conservative support under David Cameron, sets carbon budgets that bind future governments without specifying policy measures. The Conservative leadership argues the Act increased energy bills, harmed manufacturing, and slowed economic growth, and proposes replacing it to prioritise cheap energy and economic growth and halt deindustrialisation. Critics, including E3G's UK programme director Ed Matthew, describe the pledge as damaging to climate and nature credibility and characterise it as anti-science, anti-growth and harmful to public health.

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