The UK’s ‘Net Zero Straitjacket’: Crushing Costs And Wishful Thinking

The Net Zero Straitjacket: Five Reasons Net Zero Will Bankrupt Britain has been published today by the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF). It describes how Britain’s Net Zero target locks in higher energy prices and forces ministers to restrict the public’s choices. [emphasis, links added]

In this damning new analysis, Harry Wilkinson, Head of Policy at the GWPF, outlines how Net Zero policies, rooted in the Climate Change Act, are driving energy prices higher, crushing industrial competitiveness, and stripping the UK of energy sovereignty.

“With admirable impartiality, Wilkinson has explained the devastating cost of Net Zero,” said Steve Baker, the Chief Provocation Officer at The Provocation People.

“Every politician and journalist should read this paper to get ahead of the scandal, which is our energy policy. It is an important contribution to rescuing our civilization from the consequences of unaffordable, intermittent energy.”

Lord Frost hailed the report as “a welcome corrective to a debate long stifled by orthodoxy and wishful thinking,” noting that it “concisely exposes the fundamental flaws of Net Zero,” particularly “the restrictive and authoritarian character of the Climate Change Act, which must be repealed if we are to avoid calamity.”

Graham Stringer MP said: “The evidence is overwhelming that Net Zero is destroying jobs and damaging the economy. An initially well-meaning initiative has turned into an out-of-control Frankenstein’s monster that this paper exposes. We cannot continue with self-harming, disastrous policy.”

GWPF Director, Lord Mackinlay, described Net Zero as “perfectly described by the image of a straitjacket,” adding: “Businesses and their workers who can’t decarbonize fast enough will be simply thrown on the scrap heap; a process that has already started. I hope this report will help unravel some of the misguided thinking that has brought us to this dangerous situation.”

In The Net Zero Straitjacket, Wilkinson sets out five key arguments:

1. The cost of renewable energy has been underestimated. Published official analyses have not adequately accounted for variable weather patterns, which means there can be entire years of wind drought. This means that the quantity of electricity generation and storage required in 2050 has not been calculated correctly.

2. Electricity prices are likely to rise further, an outcome that the renewable industry appears to be betting on, and which is ‘built in’ by rising renewable energy subsidies and growing grid inefficiency.

3. Compulsory policies put Britain in a straitjacket and can only leave the public poorer. Mandating the use of EVs, heat pumps, and overly strict environmental standards reduces consumer choice and leaves the public worse off. The Climate Change Act ties all future governments to these rigid requirements.

4. We will miss out on using the energy under our feet. The missed opportunities from our pursuit of Net Zero need to be recognized. Failing to extract our significant fossil fuel reserves means large sums of potential tax revenues go uncollected and many people miss out on high-skilled and high-paid jobs. Importing gas and oil means tax revenues, jobs, and investments go abroad.

5. The benefits don’t stack up. The Government uses flawed ‘carbon values’ to claim large benefits for its climate policies. However, these are highly contestable and don’t represent real benefits for the British public from lower emissions.

In his own words, Harry Wilkinson warns: “The public has been misled about the costs and consequences of Net Zero. This report shines a light on the reality: a deeply authoritarian agenda that increases the cost of living for everyone.”

The full report is available to read here: The Net Zero Straitjacket (PDF).