163. Boris and Net Zero: What Happens Next?

Welcome to another episode of Outrage + Optimism. As always, we examine issues at the forefront of the climate crisis, interview change-makers, and transform our anger into productive dialogue on building a sustainable future. In this episode, co-hosts Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac, and Paul Dickinson reflect on the recent downfall of British Prime Minister (PM) Boris Johnson and what comes next for U.K. climate initiatives, with guests Ben Goldsmith, Founder of the Conservative Environment Network, and Chris Skidmore, MP for Kingswood, near Bristol. Despite Johnson’s decidedly mixed term as PM一including delivering on Brexit, recent Partygate blunders, and other scandals一he has kept the U.K. focused on climate and nature progress. He’s embraced Net zero by 2050, introduced ambitious goals for 2035, and supported the Conference of the Parties summit (COP26). But what do the hosts think? And, where does the U.K. go from here? With the interests of the global right generally focused on issues such as immigration, and new Tory leadership on the horizon, will climate and nature continue to be relevant to the U.K. conservative project? Guests Ben Goldsmith and Chris Skidmore weigh in on this dynamic moment.   NOTES AND RESOURCES    For more on conservative environmentalism in the U.K. and overseas visit the Conservative Environment Network.  Chris Skidmore, MP, Kingswood Learn more about the United Nation’s Net zero initiative and the COP26.  Read Chris Skidmore’s recent piece with Zac Goldsmith, ‘Ditching Net Zero would be electoral suicide for Conservatives’. “Hustings” is defined as a meeting at which candidates in an election address potential voters. To learn more about the climate emergency and how you can translate outrage into action, subscribe to the podcast here.