Inflation crisis fraying Europe’s climate consensus

Net-zero challenge: A file picture showing Sunak speaking to the press at an event. His government has opposed the expansion of a low-pollution zone in Labour-controlled London and issued 100 new oil and gas exploration licences. — AP

LONDON: In 2019, in the midst of bad-tempered parliamentary battles to shape the terms of Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU), the UK became the first country to legislate for net-zero by 2050. The law passed without a single vote against.

The unity hasn’t lasted. The target remains in place, but Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sees climate as a profitable political battle field in the run-up to an election polls show he’s likely to lose.