Letters: The true cost of the green dream

Zero possibility

Sir: Katy Balls is right to conclude that the government is ‘not being upfront’ on the bill for net zero and who will pay (‘The green games’, 17 April). As the Covid pandemic has revealed, expectations need managing, and without an urgent agreement on a consistent set of policy guidelines which embrace fairness, energy security and affordability, the whole net-zero project could backfire.

Whichever way you approach the problem, the costs of transitioning to net zero by 2050 are massive, with estimates ranging from £50 billion p.a. (Climate Change Committee) to £100 billion p.a. (National Grid), and the burden falling most heavily on those who cannot afford it. So while they receive little media airtime, it is no surprise that a growing number of people are challenging the activists’ and metro-liberal assumption that the UK (which accounts for less than 1 per cent of global carbon emissions) has a ‘moral responsibility’ to lead the world towards net zero.