Chris Packham launches legal challenge against government over delays to carbon budget changes
New Forest environmental campaigner Chris Packham is now taking on the Prime Minister over climate policy.
As the A&T reported last week Packham fired off an angry letter to TV presenters Ant and Dec over their “abuse” of live animals and insects on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!.
Now he has got Rishi Sunak and the government in his sights and has filed a High Court challenge to their decision to “water down” key climate policies.
An angry Packham said of the plan to delay changes to the green measures designed to make the UK carbon zero in the future “is reckless and betrays a disregard for the future security of the planet”.
He added: “They should not have been changed without proper process and consultation. I believe that action was unlawful.”
The TV star wants a judicial review of the government’s plan to change the timetable for getting rid of petrol and diesel powered cars. He is also angry that it is now stalling on phasing out gas boilers and minimum energy ratings for homes.
The government initially pledged to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 but in September the PM announced a five-year delay to the measure.
He also said 20% of households would be exempt from being unable to buy new gas boilers and adhering to other measures designed to make the UK net zero in the future.
Mr Sunak said the changes had been brought in because studies had shown a large proportion of people would not be able to afford the eco measures, saying he did not want to “burden ordinary people with the costs”.
At the time Mr Sunak revealed the delays, Forest-based Packham sent an angry letter to the PM, the energy secretary and the transport secretary demanding to know why they had made the changes. He also challenged their authority to do so saying the delivery of carbon budget pledges was governed by statute.
Today the Springwatch presenter announced that he had not received a response to his letter and that as it was “clear” any decisions to change the climate pledge would be made without consulting the public, the climate change committee or parliament, he had filed for a judicial review.
In his action against the government Packham claims the government cannot change the proposals and policies of the carbon budget without having alternative plans in place to achieve it. He says the secretaries of state have breached this obligation by not revealing how they intend to meet the budget.
He also claims there has been a failure to consult on any of the changes saying: “We are in a crisis which threatens the whole world, everything living is in danger, including all of us.”
“We have the potential to reduce that threat, we have the solutions and we have plans and targets. We must not divert from these.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “We strongly reject these claims and will be robustly defending this challenge.
“We have over-delivered on every carbon budget to date and these changes keep us on track to meet our legal net zero commitments.
“We routinely publish future emissions projections across all sectors and will continue to do so.”
To fund his challenge, Packham launched a £75,000 crowdfunding campaign, which hit its target within three days.
