, Columnist
Not Everyone Wants to Pay for Net Zero
Pushback against the cost of Britain’s net-zero policies is likely to grow.
Costs add up.
Photographer: HENRY NICHOLLS/AFPThis article is for subscribers only.
Everyone likes nice-sounding policies. Not everyone wants to pay for them.
We are beginning to see that this holds good for the UK’s strategy to reach net zero as much as for any other policy. A FocalData survey shows, for example, that 40% of people say they would “not accept any increase to my cost of living” in order to take effective action on climate change — roughly the same number as those who would not pay more to reduce crime and to improve education. Those who think that politicians can carry on with net-zero policies with impunity point to figures like this as evidence that they will hit pushback.