Kemi Badenoch Ditches Net Zero Target After Taking Donations From Funders of Tufton Street Climate Denial Group

Kemi Badenoch has ditched the Conservative Party’s longstanding support for reaching Net Zero by 2050, after taking donations from key funders of a climate science denial group which has campaigned against the target.

The Conservative leader announced the change on Tuesday, saying that the “unvarnished truth” is that Net Zero can not be achieved by 2050 without “bankrupting us”.

The announcement came after Badenoch received donations from key funders of the Tufton Street based Global Warming Policy Foundation and linked pressure group, Net Zero Watch, both of which have campaigned for the target to be dropped.

The GWPF has lobbied against Government plans to reach Net Zero by 2050 and has played down the link between man made climate change and extreme weather events, stating last year that it is a “mistaken belief that weather extremes – such as heatwaves, flooding, droughts, hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires – are more common and more intense today because of climate change”.

The GWPF was founded by the former Conservative Chancellor Nigel Lawson, who has downplayed the threat from climate change, saying that it is something humanity “can perfectly well live with”.

At least four members of Badenoch’s Shadow Cabinet, including her Shadow Net Zero Secretary Clare Coutinho have also received donations from funders of the group, including the hedge fund millionaire Michael Hintze.

GWPF is linked to Net Zero Watch, which has called for the use of renewable energy to be “wound down” and be replaced by the “rapid” expansion of fossil fuel extraction.

The group is Chaired by businessman Neil Record, who is both a major funder of GWPF and of the Conservative party.

Record, who has previously questioned the scientific consensus on man made climate change, donated £10,000 personally to Kemi Badenoch’s Conservative leadership campaign, while also allowing her use of his London home to help her campaign.

Neither Net Zero Watch, nor the GWPF declare their funders and they have denied connections to the fossil fuel industry. 

However, US tax records previously revealed that the GWPF had received funding from groups with oil and gas interests.

At least three other members of Badenoch’s Shadow Cabinet also have connections to funders of the GWPF.

Badenoch’s Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel also received a £10,000 donation from Hintze for her own leadership campaign after she called on former Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to scrap the Government’s Net Zero plans, saying “the public are not ready” to make the changes necessary to reach the target.

The Shadow Science and Technology Secretary Alan Mak also received £2,000 from Hintze last year. Mak was among those backing Sunak’s decision to row back on the then Government’s climate change plans.

The Shadow Leader of the House, Jesse Norman also received a £2,000 donation from Record.

Other politicians to have received funding from Record include former Conservative minister Andrea Jenkyns, whose failed attempt to hold onto her seat at last year’s general election was funded by Record, before she defected to Reform UK, where she is currently campaigning against both Net Zero, and the construction of a solar panel farm in Lincolnshire.

Badenoch’s decision to abandon her party’s commitment to Net Zero places her in opposition to her own voters.

YouGov polling published in the wake of last year’s general election found that 76% of voters who had backed the Conservatives, supported reaching Net Zero by 2050.