From retailers to banks, carmakers to councils, the bold pledges for carbon-neutral economies are being watered down or scrapped
Almost a year since Donald Trump returned to the White House with a rallying cry to the fossil fuel industry to “drill baby, drill”, a backlash against net zero appears to be gathering momentum.
More companies have retreated from, or watered down, their pledges to cut carbon emissions, instead prioritising shareholder returns over climate action.
In the UK, the rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has helped fracture the political consensus that had helped make Britain the first big economy to enshrine a commitment to cutting carbon emissions into law, in 2019. Earlier this year, the Conservative party leader, Kemi Badenoch, officially ditched net zero by 2050 as a Tory policy. Labour was even forced to defend its net zero policy after an attack by its former leader, Tony Blair.
Big players in retail and automotive this week became the latest businesses to weaken pledges – a retreat that threatens devastating consequences for the climate.
