Kemi Badenoch says it is time to be more realistic about net zero, insisting it is “impossible” to reach the target by 2050. Speaking in London, the Conservative Party leader insists she wants ‘a better future and a better environment for our children, but we have to get real’. Report by Covellm. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00Making promises and not delivering is exactly the reason that the political class has lost trust. The only way that we can regain it is to tell the
00:09unvarnished truth. Net zero by 2050 is impossible. I don't say that with pleasure. I want a better future and a better environment for our
00:21children. But we have to get real. Anyone who has done any serious analysis knows it cannot be achieved without a significant drop in our
00:31living standards or worse by bankrupting us. Responsible leaders don't indulge in fictions which are going to make families poorer or
00:40mortgage their children's future. Without the rest of the world doing the same we are making our country less safe less secure and less
00:49resilient. Let me give you three truths at the heart of net zero. First the published plans are completely muddled. It is true that the UK
01:00has made the greatest progress on carbon emissions in the developed world. Yet we are only responsible for 1 percent of global
01:08emissions. Even if we hit absolute zero we will not have net zero around the world. If other countries are not following us and they are
01:20not muddled plans unrealistic targets and deadlines over reliance on China. We have got to start acknowledging what is in plain sight. Net
01:30zero makes us dangerously dependent on countries who don't share our values and it is risking our energy security.