Environment secretary defends green policies - after Sir Tony Blair says net zero is 'doomed to fail'
Environment Secretary Steve Reed says the government was "moving away from sticking plaster solutions" and securing the UK's own energy supply.
Wednesday 30 April 2025 22:49, UK
The environment secretary has defended the government's net zero agenda after Sir Tony Blair said phasing out fossil fuels was "doomed to fail".
The former prime minister said the approach to transitioning to a green economy wasn't "working" and was "inadequate" in a report published on Tuesday by the Tony Blair Institute.
But speaking to Sky News' Wilfred Frost on Breakfast, Steve Reed said the government was "moving away from sticking plaster solutions towards doing what's right for the future of the economy, and for the future of households".
Politics latest: Minister defends closure of Scotland's only crude oil refinery
He said transitioning to a green economy was necessary for the UK to take back "control of our own energy supply" especially in light of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
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In his foreword to the report, Sir Tony called the whole strategy of transitioning to a green economy "unrealistic".
"Present policy solutions are inadequate and, worse, are distorting the debate into a quest for a climate platform that is unrealistic and therefore unworkable," he wrote.
"Too often, political leaders fear saying what many know to be true: the current approach isn't working."
Asked whether he believed Sir Tony was right to say the focus shouldn't be on using less fossil fuels but on using methods such as carbon capture, Mr Reed conceded that "we'll still be using fossil fuels... for some time to come".
He added: "Transition isn't gonna happen overnight."
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The former PM's warning that a strategy limiting fossil fuels is "doomed to fail" doesn't exactly sit well with Sir Keir's pledge to get to net zero by 2050.
As the PM grappled to defend his climate policies, the Tony Blair Institute clarified: the government approach is "right".
Did Sir Keir ask for that clarification? The prime minister's spokesperson won't get into "private conversations".
Both sides are at pains to talk down any disagreement.
But behind the scenes some Labour MPs are not happy with Sir Tony's words - one texts: "That's not where voters are on climate change".
That's not what Reform and the Conservatives think. Both Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage have scrapped net zero targets and are pushing a dividing line they think will chime with the public.
The PM's spokesperson reiterated the government would "deliver net zero in a way that treads lightly on people's lives".
Treading lightly though is still a tread.
Sir Tony also warned about job losses, just as Scotland's last oil refinery in Grangemouth closed, costing 430 jobs.
The Labour MP there Brian Leishman tells me he is "absolutely furious" and there is a "legitimate question" about whether the government cares as much about Scotland as the rest of the country.
They're uncomfortable questions, and the PM will face more as he grapples with how we get to net zero by 2050.
Shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins told Sky News that Sir Tony's message should prompt a "rethink" in government.
"If even Tony Blair doesn't agree with the Labour government, then that is quite a clear message. I would imagine ... that they have got to rethink this."
Addressing questions about Sir Tony during Prime Minister's Questions, Sir Keir Starmer said the former prime minister was in fact "absolutely aligned" with the Labour government on policy.
"What Tony Blair said is we should have more carbon capture - we've invested in carbon capture. That's many jobs across different parts of the country.
"He said that AI [artificial intelligence)] should be used, we agree with that. We've invested huge amounts in AI and the jobs of the future. He also said we need domestic targets so that businesses have their certainty.
"If you look at the detail of what Tony Blair said, he's absolutely aligned with what we're doing here, these are the jobs and the security of the future."
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Sir Tony's foreword has also been criticised by crossbench peer Lord Stern, who wrote a high-profile review into climate change in 2006.
He said the report was "muddled and misleading" and there was "far more progress being made around the world to decarbonise the global economy than it suggests".
He said: "For instance, China is the world's leading producer and domestic deployer of renewables and electric vehicles. Its power generating capacity from renewables has now exceeded that of fossil fuels and its emissions are likely to peak in the next two years."