Is Boris Johnson’s dream of a carbon-free future realistic?

The prime minister’s striking target for net zero carbon by the middle of the century marks a return to good old crude politics. But, asks John Rentoul, is it actually a realistic plan or just green candy floss?

The new target allowed for some typically Johnsonian rhetorical flourishes (AFP/Getty)

The prime minister made a heroic effort to change the subject from coronavirus in his speech to the Conservative Party conference this month. He invited viewers – begged them, even – to raise their eyes to the end of the decade, by which time “offshore wind will be powering every home in the country”. 

It was a striking target, one of a series of sub-targets needed to get to the great goal of net zero carbon by the middle of the century. It allowed some typically Johnsonian rhetorical flourishes: “Far out in the deepest waters we will harvest the gusts.” But it is also good crude politics: everyone thinks green is good. 

A large majority of people think it is right to set a target for the UK to cease putting any greenhouse gases into the atmosphere by 2050. Especially young people, the voters of the future, who will be needed to replace the older Conservative voters of the past. In fact, many of them want it done sooner, and are attracted by the urgency of the Extinction Rebellion movement, so all parties – and many companies and institutions – are clambering on the net-zero-carbon bandwagon. But how realistic is the net zero target? And is it something that Britain should try to achieve if other countries won’t?