Rishi Sunak’s speech on green policies has received plenty of criticism but he began by making a very fair point. He is right to argue that if the public are hit with unexpected costs as a consequence of the net zero policy, there is a risk they will turn against it. Too often, politicians have set ambitious targets but have shied away from explaining what this would involve, leaving the difficult stuff to their successors. (As a member of the cabinet that signed up to the 2050 net zero target, I cannot exempt myself from this criticism.) Yes, the public like ambitious targets while they are abstract; but that support may not hold when the costs become specific. Politicians who ignore the need to bring the public along will lose the argument and ultimately fail to deliver.
There is also a place for mainstream politicians prepared to criticise those who are more alarmist than the scientific evidence justifies (acknowledging that the scientific evidence is more than alarming enough to justify action) and who have no concerns about the costs of mitigation (even relishing the imposition of draconian restrictions).
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