: Liz Truss Decimated U.K. Climate Policy. Campaigners Hope Rishi Sunak Will Fix It #WorldNEWS The U. K. has a new Prime Minister, and British environmentalists are breathing a small, qualified, sigh

Liz Truss Decimated U.K. Climate Policy. Campaigners Hope Rishi Sunak Will Fix It #WorldNEWS
The U. K. has a new Prime Minister, and British environmentalists are breathing a small, qualified, sigh of relief.
Rishi Sunak, a former finance minister, was confirmed as the new leader of the ruling Conservative Party on Monday, after a weekend of chaotic intra-party negotiations to replace Liz Truss, who resigned on Oct. 21 after just 44 days in office, amid fierce backlash to her far-right economic agenda. (Truss had replaced former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who resigned in July after a series of scandals. ) And while Sunak is by no means an environmental champion, campaigners are cautiously optimistic that he may bring the U. K. ’s climate fight back from the brink.

Truss’s short time at the helm of the world’s fifth largest economy was a whirlwind for British climate policy. A long-time advocate of smaller government and deregulation who modeled herself on Margaret Thatcher, Truss had expressed skepticism about the ambitious action needed to reach the U. K. ’s 2050 net-zero emissions goal—which Johnson had supported. Once in office, she immediately moved to outlaw solar power on most farmland, overturn a widely-supported ban on fracking, and scrap hundreds of laws and subsidy schemes designed to protect nature. Truss also chose Jacob Rees-Mogg as her energy secretary, a lawmaker who has questioned whether climate change is caused by human activity.
In a country where polls show strong bipartisan support for action to cut emissions, Truss’s environmental agenda was “quite shocking,” says Ed Matthew, campaigns director at European climate think tank E3G. “Liz Truss represented the nadir when it came to commitment to climate action. ”
Read more: Rishi Sunak Is Britain’s Next Prime Minister. Here’s What To Know
Britain’s newest Prime Minister is not exactly the peak. As a lawmaker, first elected in 2015, Sunak has usually voted against measures to lower emissions. As finance minister from 2020 to 2022, he cut funding for key energy efficiency measures. And as a candidate for the Conservative leadership this summer—which he initially lost to Truss—his enthusiasm for clean energy was at best lukewarm.
But, adds Matthew: “The evidence is that he is certainly prepared to listen more to science than Liz Truss was. Climate change presents an existential threat to the British economy and if he cant grasp that, whatever actions he takes will not be enough to provide future prosperity for this country. ”
What is Sunak’s record on climate action?
Pretty poor. In March 2021, cuts by Sunak as Chancellor of the Exchequer led to the abandonment of a .

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