Cut ‘net zero’ from name of UK net zero department, MPs urge

{"text":[[{"start":8.88,"text":"A cross-party group of MPs has recommended the UK government’s energy department drops “net zero” from its name and uses the term less, arguing it has become counter-productive."}],[{"start":19.44,"text":"Parliament’s Energy Security and Net Zero Committee — named after the department it covers and chaired by Labour MP Bill Esterson — said the term had become a “distraction” and ministers should overhaul the way they communicate about efforts to tackle climate change."}],[{"start":33.32,"text":"Net zero, in effect, means balancing the amount of greenhouse gases produced as a result of human activity with the amount removed and stored by carbon sinks."}],[{"start":42.24,"text":"“The [Department for Energy Security and Net Zero] should drop ‘net zero’ from its name as a start to making its communications less technocratic and reduce its use in regular communications and public statements, instead focusing on wider societal benefits,” the committee said in a report published on Thursday."}],[{"start":58.88,"text":"It added that the term had become a “lightning rod for opposition to climate action”."}],[{"start":63.08,"text":"The UK government has set a goal of overhauling the economy so that it emits as close to zero carbon dioxide as possible. This is in line with the wider effort by some 140 countries to do the same in order to limit climate change, following the legally binding Paris agreement by almost 200 countries."}],[{"start":80.16,"text":"The UN body of scientists has concluded the world needs to reach net zero by around 2050 to arrest global warming and its consequences, including increasing extreme events such as wildfires, droughts and floods."}],[{"start":92.44,"text":"While the net zero term has become shorthand for action to tackle climate change in many public discussions, it is often used in a derogatory way."}],[{"start":100.12,"text":"The Conservative Party has recently vowed to drop Britain’s target of achieving net zero emissions by 2050, despite having been in government when it was first set and adding the term to the name of the government’s energy department when Rishi Sunak was prime minister."}],[{"start":113.8,"text":"The net zero policy is also opposed by Reform UK, the populist rightwing party led by Nigel Farage. Richard Tice, the party’s deputy leader, calls it “net stupid zero”."}],[{"start":123.8,"text":"Supporters of climate change policy but critics of the term include Juergen Maier, previous chair of Great British Energy, who told a conference in May that it was “politicised and doesn’t mean anything to anyone”."}],[{"start":136.36,"text":"Dale Vince, the founder of green energy company Ecotricity and a Labour Party donor, told Sky News in June: “I think we should stop using the term net zero. It has become toxified. I think we have lost the public.”"}],[{"start":149.32,"text":"In its report, which looked at how the UK could “reframe” energy policy, the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee said the public debate on energy policy did not reflect the benefits of shifting towards lower-carbon energy and the costs of not doing so, and called for “more substantive communications”."}],[{"start":166.64,"text":"“The term net zero has become a distraction from the broader aims and the benefits of the energy transition and the politics of the energy transition have become mired in a stale debate on the cost and feasibility of achieving an emissions target,” it added."}],[{"start":181.64,"text":"Graeme Downie, Labour MP for Dunfermline and Dollar and a member of the committee, said that energy policy needed to be “pragmatic and focused on people and communities, bringing down costs to consumers and businesses in the short and long term, creating jobs and supporting innovation”."}],[{"start":198.76,"text":"A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said there were no plans for a name change, adding: “This is an unnecessary distraction from the reality of climate change and the urgent need to transition to clean power."}],[{"start":211.52,"text":"“We are committed to net zero and the clean energy transition as that’s the best way to both lower bills for good and tackle the urgent issue of climate change.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":225.4,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1789624206_6950.mp3"}