Government must hand over key documents relating to Sunak’s net zero U-turn

The Carbon Budget Delivery Plan is a crucial part of the UK’s efforts to reach net zero. But last September, Rishi Sunak put us on the back foot by rolling back on our commitment to key green policies.

The previous Tory government also refused to disclose key documents relating to the changes that Sunak announced to our climate plan. These included scrapping stricter energy efficiency standards for landlords and delaying the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and the phase out of fossil fuel boilers. 

At the time, the government’s own independent climate advisor warned that Sunak’s U-turns would push up household energy bills even higher during the cost of living crisis.

If the UK is going to play its part in reaching net zero, we need transparency on how climate policy decisions are made and to see the evidence used to make them. So, Good Law Project made a complaint to the ICO arguing that publishing these documents was in the public interest.

The ICO has now ruled in our favour and the government now has 30 days to disclose environmental assessments that were put before the last government, when it produced its net zero strategy.

This decision comes just months after the High Court ruled that the government’s net zero plan was unlawful, following our joint legal challenge with Friends of the Earth and ClientEarth. The court found that Grant Shapps, the Conservative net zero secretary who drew up the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan, gave key policies the green light even though the government’s own assessments revealed significant doubts around whether they could actually be delivered.

In the coming months, the new Labour government is legally bound to produce a climate strategy that is fit for purpose. We will be holding it to account over its progress on reversing Sunak’s disastrous net zero U-turn.

Good Law Project’s legal director Rheian Davies said: “It’s baffling – but not surprising – that the Tory government would hold back documents that are in the public interest. Now it’s time for Labour to make sure there is proper transparency around the UK’s plans to reach net zero. We’ll be waiting.”