Blair Says Britons Shouldn’t Bear Burden of Net Zero

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair leaves the BBC in central London, after appearing on the BBC political programme "The Andrew Marr Show," on June 6, 2021. Tolga Akmen /AFP via Getty Images

Britons shouldn’t be asked to do too much to slash carbon emissions, former Prime Minister Tony Blair has said.

Mr. Blair, one of the leading advocates on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide, said nothing the UK does would affect climate change because the UK’s emissions are only a fraction of those released in China.

Authors of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report claimed that GHG emissions have “unequivocally caused global warming,” which they say would lead to disastrous consequences such as crop failure, water shortage, and societal instability.

The UK is one of the first countries to mandate net-zero emissions, requiring Britons to reach zero net GHG emissions by 2050.

Speaking to The New Statesman, Mr. Blair said, “I mean, one year’s rise in China’s emissions would outscore the whole of Britain’s emissions for a year.”

While insisting that climate change is “the single biggest global challenge” which the UK should “play its part” in tackling, he said reducing the UK’s emissions wouldn’t make any difference.

“Don’t ask us to do a huge amount when frankly whatever we do in Britain is not really going to impact climate change,” he said, arguing that the UK should work on new technologies and financing energy transitions in developing countries.

The former Labour prime minister also touted artificial intelligence as a key answer to climate change, saying the technology would “allow you to do things like radically shorten your planning timetable.”

0.77 Percent of Global Emissions

According to Our World in Data, in 2021 the UK’s GHG emissions were around 3 percent of what China released, and 0.77 percent of global emissions.

China’s per capita GHG emissions were around 54 percent higher than those in the UK.

The proportions of greenhouse gas emissions in 2021. Data Source: Our World in Data

China, the number one country in terms of GHG emissions, was responsible for 13.7 megatonnes of GHG, or a quarter of global emissions.

It’s double the amount of GHG emissions in Europe, and 131 percent higher than the United States, which came in second.

China’s GHG emissions have also been on a upward trajectory while the UK has slashed its emissions.

According to the United Nations’ analysis of emission figures in 2018, China’s GHG emissions increased by 250 percent since the 1990s, the biggest increase in the world; while the UK saw a 40 percent reduction, one of the biggest drops in the world.

Parties Under Pressure Over Net-Zero Policies

Mr. Blair’s remarks came after London’s expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) was blamed for Labour’s defeat in the recent Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election.

The ULEZ expansion, set to be launched in a month, means drivers of higher-emission vehicles will have to pay £12.50 each day to drive around in suburban London.

Both the Conservatives and Labour believe the policy led to a Tory win in Uxbridge.

In his victory speech, new Conservative MP Steve Tuckwell said London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s “damaging and costly ULEZ policy” cost Labour the election.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also told broadcasters that he doesn’t think there’s “any doubt” ULEZ was to blame for the defeat.

Following the by-election, some politicians warned party leaders that net-zero policies may cost them the next general election, while others urged the parties to stick to their green pledges.

Senior Tory Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said the by-election result showed that people want the government to get rid of “unpopular, expensive green policies” while former COP26 climate summit President Alok Sharma said it would be “self-defeating for any political party to seek to break the political consensus on this vital agenda.”