'I'm determined to keep pushing': Chris Skidmore preps for net zero meeting with PM

You could forgive Chris Skidmore for feeling exhausted, and not a little peeved.

Having spent last summer trying to convince various Conservative leadership contenders to take net zero more seriously, he then embarked on a countrywide autumn roadshow to garner views on how to best grasp the social and economic opportunities arising from the net zero transition. After all that, the Conservative MP was primed to unveil his 340-page report with a big PR push at a launch event on Monday, harbouring hopes it could once again catapult climate change to the top of the Westminster agenda.

But the Net Zero Review - or Mission Zero, as the report is officially titled - actually emerged last Friday, several days earlier than planned and to arguably less fanfare than some might have hoped. Having been leaked by an unknown culprit to several national press outlets on Thursday, the government responded by rush-releasing the report, prompting some bewilderment and frustration among those keen for it to land with a big, coordinated splash across the media.

Some have speculated whether the leak was an act of deliberate sabotage from those keen to dilute Mission Zero's unequivocal message that the UK government should do everything in its power to move further and faster in pursuit of net zero emissions. But perhaps more likely - and the official line, it seems - is that the report simply slipped into the public domain after being shared widely among myriad NGOs and stakeholders ahead of publication.

Either way, the launch event for the Net Zero Review still went ahead as planned this week in London, where Skidmore joined the government's Energy and Climate Minister Graham Stuart in trumpeting the importance of delivering on the UK's net zero targets.

"Nearly every industry and sector, representatives from almost every business reached out to us, to tell us how, with the right support, they were willing to go further, faster, and to seize the benefits of net zero with both hands," he told an audience of movers and shakers from business, politics, academia, and the NGO community.

"The conclusions of the review are clear," he added. "If we want to deliver net zero in the most affordable way, we need to act sooner rather than later. Delay and inaction only result in escalating costs, both in terms of materials and supply chains, but perhaps most importantly, a lack of certainty, clarity or consistency dissuades international investment from coming to the UK. The new net zero reality is that this investment, those supply chains, the factories and companies, can readily go elsewhere. If the UK is unwilling to lead, the only other option is to follow."

Speaking to BusinessGreen shortly afterwards, Skidmore dismissed speculation surrounding ulterior motives for leaking the report, which he described as merely "an occupational hazard" in politics. In any case, he pointed out the leak had the advantage of giving everyone an entire weekend to properly read, digest and engage with the substance of the report ahead of the launch event. Media coverage, which stretched right across the weekend and through to at least Monday evening, has also been strong, he argued.

"I felt actually, the coverage was better than I'd hoped," he said. "And I think the very fact there was a leak demonstrates that it was obviously hotly anticipated. In the end, we've had a second bite of the cherry really in being to get together to discuss the Review, to delve into it in a bit more depth."

Skidmore, who famously signed the UK's net zero target into law while serving as interim Energy and Clean Growth Minister in 2019, is far from finished with the Review. He is planning further visits in the coming weeks to parts of the country he failed to reach in the Autumn, such as the planned net zero industrial hub on the Humber, in order to further drive home Mission Zero's core message. MPs can also soon expect a letter from Skidmore highlighting the Review's conclusions and he is pushing for a Parliamentary debate on the issue.

Indeed, the next two months are shaping up to be pivotal for the UK's net zero agenda. The government has not yet given an indication of when it might formally respond to the Review, but Skidmore's expectation is that a response could emerge as part of a revamped Net Zero Strategy, which the High Court last year said must be delivered by the end of March after ruling the existing version "unlawful" and "inadequate".

"The Review seems to have got wide coverage," said Skidmore, as he eyes the critical two months ahead. "And I'm determined to keep on pushing for the report to get as much coverage as possible."

For those who didn't spend their weekends taking the microscope to the report's 340 pages - or at least skim-reading the executive summary - its 129 recommendations are more rational and methodical than radical or revolutionary, with the focus on urging the government to push forward with the broad vision contained in its existing Net Zero Strategy, just with far stronger governance, transparency, consistency, clarity, and action.  

Some will no doubt argue the report could and perhaps should have been more ambitious in its conclusions - recommendations on how to curb meat consumption and flights were notably lacking, for example. But Skidmore denied the review was deliberately designed to avoid scaring those within the Conservative Party who are more fearful of a radical push on decarbonisation and are instinctively wary of interventionist policies.

"The reality is we've got to return to first principles about what we need to achieve," Skidmore said. "You do need to make priorities and decisions in politics. What I've tried to suggest in this report is that these are the priorities around delivery - around infrastructure, around planning - that need to be put in place as a matter of primary importance. There are other areas of focus that are extremely important and must be taken forward, but that also won't happen unless you get the basics right. The under-the-bonnet opportunities of getting the plumbing and engine running - that's what the Review has tried to highlight."

Moreover, it is critical to avoid the net zero transition descending into a culture war, Skidmore argued. "It's moving the net zero debate into one of 'what is the practical reality?' and getting away from the emotional debate," he reflected. "This is important, there is a climate crisis, and time is running out. But we've got to make sure that we don't take your eye off what is the core priority for government, which is delivery."

Maintaining political consensus

In any case, the Review is not solely aimed at Conservative MPs. Skidmore is at pains to stress the importance of maintaining a broad political consensus on the pursuit of net zero, talking up recent meetings and discussions with members of his own party as well as Labour's Ed Miliband and the Green Party's Caroline Lucas, among others. He is now hoping to continue that cross-party engagement going forward, with a view to ensuring Mission Zero remains influential regardless of who occupies Downing Street in the coming years.

"For myself, it's about building consensus and demonstrating to the present administration what they can take forward now," he said. "The reality is, when it comes to looking at what we can achieve legislatively or through regulation, we're looking at things needing to be concluded by July 2024, because then you go into an election around October 2024. So that's literally around 18 months. The whole report has been written with an understanding of the realities of, not thinking about life as it should be, but thinking about political life as it is now.

"That's why I've met with all political parties: because I want that consensus; I want this to last. I want the Net Zero Review to be seen in future like the Stern Review [on the economics of climate change in 2006], so that we can say '10 years ago, Mission Zero set out this long-term perspective, and we bought into it'."

Securing Rishi Sunak's support

Still, it is no secret that there is resistance to the net zero agenda in parts the Conservative Party. That much was made clear by the very fact then-Prime Minister Liz Truss commissioned the Review in the first place, despite plenty of methodical work on the net zero transition having already been undertaken by the government's own Climate Change Committee (CCC). Some members of the Truss administration were clearly resistant to the idea of going "further and faster" on net zero, but is Number 10's latest occupant, Rishi Sunak, more open to the idea that the UK's decarbonisation efforts need strengthening?

Skidmore said he is hoping to meet with the Prime Minister "in the next couple of weeks" to discuss the Mission Zero report, and he has already met with several of the PM's key special advisers, including Nick Park and James Forsyth.

"I'm keen to make sure that we have buy-in at the highest level on the Net Zero Review," he said.

There are reasons to be optimistic such buy-in could be forthcoming. Sunak wrote to Skidmore in the autumn after the MP for Kingswood announced he would not stand at the next election to praise his record and express his support for the Net Zero Review. Skidmore also credits Business Secretary Grant Shapps and Energy and Climate Minister Graham Stuart with helping maintain support for the Net Zero Review in government after the implosion of the Truss administration.

"There were a number of reviews that were cancelled," Skidmore explained. "Mine was one of three reviews that made it through, and I was determined, given the fragility of politics, to put my marker in the sand. That's why I initially set a 200-page target for the report, and some people counselled against doing a bigger report, as they argued we should be more strategically incisive. But I thought this could be my one and only change to actually influence net zero policy for the future. So I was determined to have my cake and eat it, as a previous prime minister would have said."

But even with Skidmore and allies in government such as Shapps and Stewart pushing for more net zero action and policy certainty, there has been little indication from the PM's speeches or policy announcements to date that he views decarbonisation as central to the UK's economic strategy. Indeed, Sunak barely gave more than a cursory mention to climate change and nature in a recent major speech setting out his priorities for 2023. Navigating the UK economy through the grim realities of soaring energy bills, rising inflation, rolling strikes, and a potential recession remains the day to day reality for Downing Street.

At this week's launch event, Stewart gave a broad welcome to Mission Zero, but did not comment on any of its specific recommendations, merely promising an official government response "as early in the year as we can".

He did, however, stress that the UK remains "absolutely committed" to its net zero target, which he said "remains the only path forward for building an economy with industries, jobs and skills that are set for the future".

"From investors and business leaders, many of them here today, one message rang out loud and clear: net zero marks the beginning of a new era, not just of change, but also of opportunity," Stewart added, reiterating how the Review erved to demonstrate the huge number of opportunities on offer from decarbonising the economy. "The world is moving down a path which this country has helped lead and set," he said. "The Review shows that the benefits of net zero far outweigh its costs. And it shows that net zero isn't just an economic opportunity, but it is the economic opportunity of the century, and that the UK is perfectly positioned to seize it."

The Minister, who exited shortly after his speech, declined to take any questions from the audience. But he did state that 2023 was shaping up to be "a busy year for me, and for government energy and climate policy", highlighting how the Energy Security Bill, an updated Green Finance Strategy, the planned Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate, and further details on plans for the UK's Emissions Trading Scheme are all in the pipeline.

"The Review is clear that if we are to maximise the opportunities of this transition, we need to act decisively," he said. "I couldn't agree more."

Fossil fuel dilemmas

Whether the government takes forward any of the specific recommendations from Mission Zero, however, remains to be seen. But Skidmore has shown he is willing to go public with opposition to aspects of the government's energy policy regime. He opposed the Truss administration's doomed efforts to revive fracking in the UK and this week he argued that if stringent net zero mandates and priorities were put in place for all levels of UK governance - as recommended in Mission Zero - plans to build a new coking coal mine in Cumbria would not have been given the green light by the government. He also predicted that a looming legal battle and considerable public outcry over the controversial decision means it remains unlikely the coal mine will ever be built.

"I personally believe the coal mine decision is a mistake," he said. "As I've set out in my speech the key role of the UK can play - as we are one per cent of global emissions - is to take the rest of the world with us. That prize, of having that ability to demonstrate climate leadership, whether in innovation, diplomacy, or in setting that direction, is so precious. And once it's gone, it's gone. I still believe we have it… So let's wait and see whether this coal mine actually happens, but if this report is taken forwards, it never will."

On North Sea oil and gas, however, Skidmore's position is less clear cut. This week it emerged that 115 applications for drilling have been received in the UK's latest offshore oil and gas licensing round, with the government having signalled its intention to expand domestic hydrocarbon resources as part of its Energy Security Strategy.

The Net Zero Review calls for a clearer and stronger 'Climate Compatibility Checkpoint' that any new oil and gas drilling projects would have to meet, as well as a full ban on gas flaring from 2025. But Skidmore stops short of arguing the UK should halt all new fossil fuel developments, despite growing calls from green groups for the government to do just that. 

"Of course I wouldn't want new oil and gas fields, but it's about what is the economic reality, and the reality that is facing us when it comes to our continued use of petrochemicals?" Skidmore told BusinessGreen. "And so hopefully a number of measure will continue to turbocharge the reduction in demand - such as through electric vehicles and elsewhere - but the question I want to ask is if we still need to have that residual use of oil and gas, how can we green it as best as possible for the future?"

There are also mounting concerns surrounding the UK's so-called 'green taxonomy', which remains under construction in Whitehall, amid rumours the Treasury is keen to water-down some of the more ambitious recommendations on how to classify sustainable investments. The aim of the taxonomy is to provide far clearer guidance on what constitutes a genuinely 'green' investment or asset, in order to accelerate the flow of finance into the net zero transition. The EU, having spent the past few years developing its own green taxonomy, came under fire last year for allowing some fossil gas power projects to be considered a 'green' investment. Skidmore believes the UK's green taxonomy should be more ambitious than that of the EU, once again arguing that the country should aspire to a leadership position.

"Hopefully the UK's [taxonomy] will be stronger," he said. "I think we've got an opportunity to show leadership on taxonomy, because if somehow the UK considers gas in the green taxonomy, then suddenly the rest of the world will be considering it."

Skidmore's immediate focus is now on the crucial next few months for UK's net zero agenda. But if he is any way frustrated by the recent political and economic turmoil that has undoubtedly undermined the transition over the past year, not to mention the campaigning that has been required to sustain Conservative Party support for climate action, he certainly does not let on. Indeed, the MP may be stepping down at the next election, but he has not lost any of his appetite for campaigning on net zero policy, potentially envisaging a move to academia or policy development once his political career comes to an end.

"Net zero I think of as a Rubik's Cube - a sort of multifaceted policy puzzle that is an enormous challenge that touches every part of the economy, society and every economic discipline," he said. "So I definitely see my future in net zero, but doing what I don't know. I feel that this is the moment where I get off the bus, but I've found the location I want to be focusing on, and I'm keen to explore how I can continue to help influence the debate."