Pádraig Hoare: Hard not to be cynical about commitment to climate neutrality
By conjuring up make-believe wars on motorists and meat eaters, Rishi Sunak — previously somewhat of a pragmatist, albeit not gone on the whole climate action thing — has given in to the most extreme elements of Tory MPs and members.
Perhaps Greta Thunberg was prescient after all about world leaders' commitment to tackling climate change — the way Europe is heading, policy might as well be "green economy, net zero, build back better, blah blah blah".
As the European Commission attempts to install Ursula von der Leyen's handpicked right-wing nominee Wopke Hoekstra — a former Shell employee — to take charge of the EU's climate action until the middle of next year, the ruling Tory party in Britain has abandoned any pretense that it cares a jot about tackling climate change.
By conjuring up make-believe wars on motorists and meat eaters, prime minister Rishi Sunak — previously somewhat of a pragmatist, albeit not gone on the whole climate action thing — has given in to the most extreme elements of Tory MPs and members.
At the Tory party conference in Manchester, ministers — of a party that has been in power for more than a decade, mind you — have tried to convince party members and voters that there is a vast conspiracy afoot by shadowy forces masquerading as climate action advocates.
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With a straight face, transport minister Mark Harper railed against the concept of the 15-minute city. "What is sinister and what we shouldn't tolerate is the idea that local councils can decide how often you go to the shops and that they ration who uses the roads and when, and they police it all with CCTV," he claimed.
Objectively speaking, even a child could fact-check this nonsense in record time. A 15-minute city is ostensibly a community where amenities such as schools, doctors, shops, cycle lanes, and green spaces are all located within 15 minutes of your home.
This is a LIE.
— Greenpeace UK (@GreenpeaceUK) October 2, 2023
This is a government Minister, Mark Harper, spreading a conspiracy theory that could lead to MORE ABUSE of local councils' employees.
This is hugely irresponsible and dangerous.#CPC23 pic.twitter.com/xcJ4sjEEj5
A bit like a reimagined village in an urban setting, the kind of place traditional conservatives and older voters wax nostalgically about as they lament the loss of traditional values and times gone by.
Somehow the 15-minute city concept has been hijacked by far-right conspiracy theorists as a New World Order-inspired plan to keep people imprisoned in their local vicinity.
What many councils are in fact attempting to do is to limit speeds in and around schools and pedestrian routes in a bid to stave off deaths and injuries caused by cars. What Mr Harper declined to mention is that many of these local councils are ruled by Tory councillors who have voted for the proposals.
Such nonsense should be given short shrift by any serious politician, but this is 2023, and the Tory pandering to the irrational fears and conspiratorial fringes has now reached the highest echelons of government.
Energy and net zero secretary Claire Coutinho, one of the very few party allies of Sunak, was no better, getting caught out by Sky News reporter Sophy Ridge after she told the party faithful that only the Tories would fight off plans for a tax on eating meat.
Needless to say, no such tax is remotely being considered by any party. But this is 2023, and the Tories fearing electoral meltdown will spout just about any fearmongering gibberish to gullible party members and voters to somehow shore up its dwindling base.
Sky's Sophy Ridge reads out part of the Energy Secretary's speech where she says, 'there's no wonder Labour seem so relaxed about taxing meat...' - and asks: "You didn't write that, did you? They're not proposing a meat tax?"#PoliticsHub 👉 https://t.co/GlTNastFii
— Ridge & Frost (@RidgeandFrost) October 2, 2023
📺 Sky 501 pic.twitter.com/u1uMX0kUPd
The coup de grace was the confirmation-in-all-but-name that the highly anticipated and desired HS2 high-speed rail line between Birmingham and Manchester is to be scrapped as Sunak declares he will "slam the brakes on the war on motorists".
The political satires or could not have scripted it — the scrappage of the HS2 plan was leaked as the Tory party conference took place in...Manchester.
Cue the Tory mayor of the Midlands, Andy Street, on live TV imploring Sunak not to abandon the HS2 plan for his region, lest the UK's international reputation "as a place to invest" is severely compromised.
It might not have the shambolic street theatre of a Tory party imploding by masquerading as a Ukip think-tank, but the EU's own shift on climate action is equally concerning.
Spooked by the centre-right resistance to plans such as the Nature Restoration Law during the summer, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen seems to have eased on her steadfast commitment to the European Green Deal.
When European Commission vice president for the Green Deal and commissioner for climate action, Frans Timmermans, announced he was resigning in order to run in the Dutch elections for prime minister, it seemed there would be a like-for-like swap, with Slovak veteran politician Maroš Šefčovič slotting in smoothly.
Instead, while Mr Šefčovič will indeed liaise on Green Deal matters, the climate action brief will now likely fall to Dutch right-wing former deputy prime minister, Wopke Hoekstra.
The nomination of the former Shell employee has set alarm bells off among non-governmental organisations, with 10, such as the European Environmental Bureau and Greenpeace writing to von der Leyen in August to express their misgivings.
"Frans Timmermans was instrumental in driving forward numerous initiatives on climate, energy transition, deforestation and nature restoration. However, much remains to be done. Europe and the world, and especially the most climate vulnerable communities, cannot afford a pause, or a slow down.
"We are highly sceptical that Wopke Hoekstra possesses the required credentials and expertise to lead on this critical portfolio, which includes a number of upcoming critical processes.
This last includes abandoning government objectives to reduce nitrogen emissions to bring them in line with EU obligations, they warned.
Given the resistance to nature restoration of political leaders in many European states, including Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's complaints that the original proposal went "too far", and the whittling down of air quality targets in the EU in recent weeks, it is hard not to be cynical about whether the EU is serious or not about climate neutrality in the face of clear and incontrovertible evidence that the planet is getting dangerously warmer.
For his part, Hoekstra talked a good game as he was grilled by the European Parliament's environment committee this week, insisting he would push for the EU to cut its net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 90% by 2040, as well as cutting subsidies.
Many EU parliamentarians remain unconvinced and it remains to be seen if Mr Hoekstra will be installed.
At least he talked the good fight, unlike the ruling party in Britain which has decided that future generations don't matter because stemming the political bleed in the short-term is the only show in town.
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