Badenoch to Scrap Climate Act, Back North Sea Oil

Kemi Badenoch pledged to repeal the 2008 Climate Change Act and dismantle net-zero obligations — including five-year carbon budgets and potentially the Climate Change Committee — ending the UK's legally binding 2050 net-zero target and replacing it with an energy strategy prioritising “cheap and reliable” power and expanded North Sea oil and gas extraction. She says the Act has failed, is economically harmful, fuels de-industrialisation and is unattainable. The pledge has drawn sharp condemnation from senior Conservatives, including former prime minister Theresa May and ex‑COP26 president Alok Sharma, who say it breaks a 17‑year cross‑party scientific and political consensus. Environmentalists, scientists, business groups and the Church of England warn repealing the law would remove legal duties to cut emissions, undermine the UK’s climate leadership and erode the long‑term certainty needed for investment and innovation. Critics also note that greater reliance on fossil fuels has previously driven volatile global prices and high public costs, disputing the claim that scrapping the Act would deliver the promised economic benefits.