Carbon capture should be “the centre of the battle” in fighting climate change and delivering Net Zero, according to a new paper from former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Writing for his eponymous think tank, The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, he said, “At present, carbon capture is not commercially viable despite being technologically feasible – but policy, finance and innovation would change this. The disdain for this technology in favour of the purist solution of stopping fossil-fuel production is totally misguided.”
The paper underlines a widely accepted truth that fossil fuels will remain key to delivering growth for developing and developed countries, despite the ongoing ramp up of renewables – which he said should continue as it is necessary and cost effective.
But present policy solutions are inadequate to meet the levels of growth and development, and the paper argues that governments are distorting the debate into a quest for a climate platform that is unrealistic and unworkable.
“Political leaders by and large know that the debate has become irrational, but they are terrified of saying so, for fear of being accused of being ‘climate deniers’,” he adds.
“As ever, when sensible people don’t speak up about the way a campaign is being conducted, the campaign stays in the hands of those who end up alienating the very opinion on which consent for action depends.”
Planning restrictions are a “colossal inhibitor” of clean energy growth and AI is potentially revolutionary in reducing energy use. “Yet there is little time devoted at climate conferences to it,” he said.
He said we have a chance to reset the debate, not by denying the urgency of climate action, but by updating the strategy.
“We need solutions that match the scale of the challenge and a new politics to get them done. Both are well overdue,” the paper concludes.
Nicholas Stern, Chair of the Grantham Research institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said the paper was “muddled and misleading”.
“There is far more progress being made around the world to decarbonise the global economy than it suggests. For instance, China is the world’s leading producer and domestic deployer of renewables and electric vehicles. Its power generating capacity from renewables has now exceeded that of fossil fuels and its emissions are likely to peak in the next two years,” he said.
“The UK’s leadership on climate change, particularly the elimination of coal from its power sector, is providing an influential example to other countries. So, too, its climate change legislation and its Climate Change Committee. If the UK wobbles on its route to Net Zero, other countries may become less committed. The UK matters.”
Bob Ward, Policy and Communications Director of the Grantham Research institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said the report provides weak analysis and the wrong solutions.
“It fails to recognise that the longer it takes to reach Net Zero emissions in the UK and around the world, the more that households and businesses will suffer from growing impacts of climate change,” he said.
“So the challenge is to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels, not to slow it down. Investments in carbon capture and storage and nuclear are fine, but they are not the best ways to accelerate the transition. Faster deployment of renewables is the best way to speed up the transition.”
