Carbon conspiracy: How shadowy think-tanks went to war on net zero

In October 2021, Boris Johnson promised the path to the UK reaching net zero carbon emissions would be “paved with well-paid jobs, billions in investment and thriving green industries”, and boasted the Tories would “lead the charge towards global net zero”. Over the three short years that followed, the consensus on the climate crisis faced a concerted attack from rightwing journalists, agitators and conspiracists. And last September, Rishi Sunak slammed the brakes on the Tories’ charge, turning Johnson’s logic on its head by claiming that ambitious climate policies put “unacceptable costs” on “hard-working British people”.

But where did this language come from? Why is Sunak spreading the myth that net zero is a “burden” instead of an opportunity? In this documentary short, we chart how these arguments were forged by a shadowy libertarian network based around 55 Tufton Street. It’s a network which doesn’t disclose its donors. A network that boosted Brexit and is now focused on downplaying the climate crisis.

According to the writer and journalist Peter Geoghegan, the influence these murky organisations wield on our politics is “nothing short of a scandal”.

“As Good Law Project’s new film shows,” Geoghegan said, “many of these groups are now actively undermining climate action. It is crucial that we continue to interrogate these groups, their positions – and, crucially, who funds them.”

How does Tufton Street operate? How have they fought net zero? And what will their campaign look like under a Labour government?

Watch now