Around 200 business, industry and academic leaders were said to have given a "firm pushback" over the Prime Minister’s plans to "shift the goalposts” on net zero policy which, they said, was creating huge uncertainty in industry.
East Midlands Chamber said speakers at a Sustainability Summit which it hosted in Derby said Mr Sunak’s “flip-flopping” over net zero commitments had the potential to mess up long-term industrial investment plans and harm the 海角视频’s quest to become a global leader in the green economy.
Organisations from across Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire gathered at Reach Events, in Derby, for the event, held in partnership with the University of Derby, Mazars, Thompson Tree Services and Epson.
READ MORE: {}
It took place on the day Mr Sunak went public in watering down efforts to tackle the climate crisis, facing criticism from green-minded Tories, environmentalists and industry figures.
He plans to delay a ban on new fossil fuel cars by five years in a major U-turn and has confirmed that households would “never” be forced to “rip-out their existing boiler and replace it with a heat pump”.
His shift comes despite mounting evidence that global warming is bringing us into a new age of climate crisis which only this summer led to huge fires across the world as average temperatures soared.
Scientists have warned that each point of a degree rise in the average global temperature brings escalating risks of more extreme storms, heatwaves and wildfires, rising seas, spread of disease and degradation of the natural world on which the human food supply rests.
East Midlands Chamber director of policy and insight Chris Hobson said: “We heard at our sustainability summit about some of the great things that businesses are doing in pursuing green growth and the very tangible rewards they are reaping with innovation and financial growth.
Most Read
“These are the shining examples of success we can glean from embracing net zero, which means viewing it as not just a challenge but a golden opportunity.
“Yet while our national leaders correctly talk up the research and development strengths of our businesses and ambitions to be a global leader in developing low-carbon goods and services, there is a huge disconnect between this messaging and Government policy – as evidenced by the Prime Minister’s ill-judged shifting of the goalposts on our country’s net zero commitments.
“We saw first-hand the impact policy flip-flopping has on business decision-making during the chaotic political landscape of 2022, which quashed business confidence and thus investment.
“The lack of certainty about the future direction of our economy will unfortunately have a similar impact at a time when we should be encouraging transformational long-term investment.
“Having net zero targets is one thing, but to get us there we require a roadmap that will be led by business innovation.
“The vacillating from our political leaders instead undermines our ability to make real progress in this space and we instead find ourselves stuck in limbo when it comes to the most significant economic opportunity of our lifetime.”
Research called produced by the chamber and University of Derby, was discussed by report author Dr Polina Baranova, associate professor of strategy and sustainability at the university.
Don’t miss
The chamber said it showed the proportion of East Midlands businesses that have made any income from environmentally-friendly goods and services had fallen – which Dr Baranova said illustrated both the impact of the cost-of-doing business crisis and the “fragility” of the current policy landscape, with green growth yet to be a firmly embedded business philosophy.
Other highlights at the summit included:
· East Midlands Chamber president Stuart Dawkins discussed how sustainability is at the heart of businesses’ responsibility to support their communities and future generations
· Professor Chris Bushell, pro vice-chancellor and head of sustainability at the University of Derby, outlined how the institution is taking a lead in the net zero agenda via its research, innovation, thought leadership and knowledge capital
· Ian Meikle, director of clean growth at Innovate 海角视频, explained how Britain can create jobs and sustainable economic growth by developing its own low-carbon products and services, but this required stable policy and regulation, innovation in business models and supply chains, and a step-change in access to capital
· Chris Fuggle, global head of sustainability services at audit, tax and advisory services firm Mazars, provided practical strategies to upskill leadership teams on the environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda and embedding sustainability at board level
· Charlie de la Haye, communications manager at Epson 海角视频, gave an insight into how the global printing manufacturer had pivoted its business model to deliver green goods and services while demonstrating how it could deliver cost-saving benefits to customers.