In a sharp rebuke to Conservative climate policies, Ed Miliband has accused the party of being “anti-science” for abandoning the longstanding political consensus on net zero. Addressing the Commons in the first annual “state of the climate” statement, the Secretary of State for Energy and Net Zero highlighted research by the Met Office showing Britain is already experiencing warmer, wetter conditions, with a growing number of extreme weather events. Miliband urged cross-party unity, insisting that political leaders must be held accountable for failing to support necessary action.
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Andrew Bowie, representing the opposition, challenged Miliband’s tone and reaffirmed his party’s stance against the 2050 net zero target, instead calling for investment in nuclear energy and more accessible air conditioning. Bowie argued that the UK cannot be expected to shoulder the burden of global climate responsibility alone, stating: “It isn’t a race if nobody else is running.” Miliband criticised the absence of the shadow energy secretary and said the Conservative benches were avoiding the issue out of embarrassment.
Referencing former prime minister Theresa May, who enshrined the net zero target into law in 2019, Miliband reiterated her view that populists offering simplistic solutions were the real “climate zealots”. He called the government’s reversal of climate commitments a betrayal of 20 years of bipartisan progress, branding it “anti-jobs, anti-energy security, and anti-future generations”. He credited the concept of an annual climate statement to Liberal Democrat MP Roz Savage, whose climate and nature bill inspired the new approach.
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Miliband emphasised that the evidence of climate change was clear, with nature depletion and poor harvests already visible in the UK. While recognising the UK’s limited share of global emissions, he stressed its influence on international climate action. “British leadership matters,” he said, urging critics to stop “talking our country down” and affirming that domestic decisions have helped shape the global response. He concluded that the climate crisis is not a distant threat, but a present reality demanding urgent, collective action.
