Badenoch said: ‘Net zero by 2050 is impossible. I don’t say that with pleasure. I want a better future and a better environment for our children. But we have to get real. Anyone who has done any serious analysis knows it cannot be achieved without a significant drop in our living standards or worse, by bankrupting us.’

Badenoch made four particular claims. First was that there have never been adequate plans for the energy transition in the UK. Second, even if the UK manages to achieves net zero, it still won’t fix global climate change, which depends on the emissions of larger countries. Third was that scheduled decarbonisation actions, such as the roll-out of heat pumps, haven’t kept to plan. She said that the UK has to install 17 million heat pumps in 15 years, when last year only 500,000 were installed, according to UK Climate Change Committee (CCC) numbers. Fourth, lowest-cost supply chains for wind and solar are both based in China, so investing in them in huge volumes is ‘exposing ourselves to countries who don’t share our values’.

Her remarks come after the far-right party Reform UK added more information about its own energy programme, which also calls for ending the net zero mission. Its document, Our Contract With You, says: ‘Net zero is pushing up bills, damaging British industries like steel, and making us less secure. We can protect our environment with more tree planting, more recycling and less single use plastics. New technology will help, but we must not impoverish ourselves in pursuit of unaffordable, unachievable global CO₂ targets.’

In her remarks, Badenoch dismissed the party’s position entirely, saying: ‘New parties will turn up, like Reform, who don’t have real answers to our country’s challenges; that’s why their energy policy fell apart after they announced it.’

Badenoch’s comments have received fierce criticism from trade associations and climate think tanks.

Dhara Vyas, Chief Executive of electricity utility trade association Energy UK, said: ‘Cutting emissions across our economy is about more than just the climate – investing in cleaner domestic energy production can lower costs for households and businesses, strengthen our energy security, improve public health and provide a huge economic boost.’

She also said: ‘The UK should remain a world leader in the energy transition, continuing to create economic growth and attract international investment in the technologies and the jobs of the future.’

‘Of course we need honest conversations about how we fund the costs in a way that is fair to households and businesses – and this also needs to include a consideration of the potential price of inaction. Delaying upfront investment increases the eventual cost and rowing back on green measures added billions to bills during the gas crisis. The recent CCC report estimated the net cost of reaching the target at around 0.2% of UK GDP per year on average – a significant but manageable cost, which has also fallen significantly.’

Jane Cooper, Deputy Chief Executive of trade association RenewableUK said: ‘The Conservatives would be wrong to row back on their commitment to net zero, as this would mean turning their backs on one of our greatest opportunities to maximise economic growth this century – and the progress by the previous government in helping the UK to become a world leader in offshore wind.’

‘The real cause of the recent energy crisis is the eyewatering cost of gas on international markets which we have no control over. That’s why it’s vital to strengthen the UK’s energy security by building new renewable energy projects as fast as possible, to get closer towards energy independence and drive down bills permanently by ending the stranglehold of fossil fuels on hard-pressed billpayers.’

Alasdair Johnstone, Head of Parliamentary Engagement at think tank Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit, said: ‘Given that we need to reach net zero emissions to stop greenhouse gases increasing and so the ever worsening floods and heatwaves driven by climate change, any sense of giving up on the goal 25 years before the finish line, particularly when the UK has made good progress, seems premature.’

‘It is certainly technologically and economically feasible for the UK to hit net zero emissions, and the clear majority of the British public back the net zero emissions target seeing renewables and clean technology as the top growth sector. The UK’s net zero economy grew by 10% in 2024, and momentum towards renewables and electrification globally is only going in one direction, so any signal of a slowdown is a recipe for investor uncertainty and economic jeopardy.’

‘It was a Conservative government that provided global leadership in setting a net zero emissions target since which more than three-quarters of global GDP is now covered by a net zero commitment.’

In rebutting the claim that net zero by 2050 is impossible, Johnstone quoted the CCC’s Seventh Carbon Budget report from late February 2025 of a ‘deliverable’ path, among others. He also pointed to an October 2024 survey finding that 65% of British adults support net zero, versus 21% who oppose it.  

It also reported last month that the UK’s net zero economy now generates £83.1bn in Gross Value Added (GVA) and has grown 10% in the past year.