Zac Goldsmith has slammed prime minister Rishi Sunak for being disinterested in the environment as he resigns as minister for overseas territories, commonwealth, energy, climate and environment.
“The problem is not that the government is hostile to the environment, it is that you, our prime minister, are simply uninterested,” Goldsmith said in his resignation letter.
“Our efforts on a wide range of domestic environmental issues have simply ground to a standstill,” he continued.
“More worrying, the UK has visibly stepped off the world stage and withdrawn our leadership on climate and nature. Too often we are simply absent from key international fora.”
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Goldsmith stated that the government has its “abandoned” green promises , including its “pledge to spend £11.6 billion of our aid on climate and environment.”
The statement comes after the Climate Change Committee said its confidence in the UK’s ability to reach net zero is “markedly less” than it was a year ago. There are other claims, however Goldsmith has resigned due to claims of being involved in parties during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Elsewhere, energy minister Graham Stuart announced a £80 million boost to help UK businesses tackle carbon emissions at the UK’s Climate Innovation Forum.
The energy projects receiving backing today come in the latest round of the government’s £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, which aims to scale up low-carbon technologies for use across UK industries.
Lord Martin Callanan, minister for energy efficiency and green finance said the transition away from fossil fuels “presents a huge opportunity for our growing green energy sector and we will continue to make sure UK business can benefits from its full potential”.
