The Folly of Net Zero

The global elite’s obsession with this issue is derailing economic growth and making us all poorer

The global elite's folly and selfishness is best illustrated in its obsession with net zero. It is a policy that makes the poor poorer and derails economic growth. It is a pessimistic creed that has replaced religion for its adherents, who are willing to be martyrs for their cause, or at least are willing to martyr their electorates. Unsurprisingly, this does not affect the elite, who continue to fly around the world in private jets and have their bills paid for by the taxpayer or generous donors.

It is essentially a millenarian belief, that the world will end unless we act to save ourselves. Traditionally, millenarians thought that belief in Christ was sufficient, but now it is all about reducing emissions, in the arrogant view that human action can effectively operate a global thermostat and control or abate nature.

This is not to say that human behaviour has no effect, but volcanoes may have a bigger one. There are powerful forces that operate outside mankind's control. We ought not to assume, to quote the book of Job, that we can “draw out Leviathan with an hook”.

Nonetheless, the Conference of the Parties (COP) went ahead in Baku in Azerbaijan this week and the United Kingdom was duly represented by Sir Keir Starmer. He seems to prefer flying to staying in Downing Street, having managed 125 hours in a plane since his election. He went, even though most senior world leaders did not.

It is encouraging that not all global leaders are beset with this malaise. The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, helpfully suggested that oil and gas are a gift from God, and that countries ought not to be ashamed of fossil fuels. Unfortunately, Sir Keir disagrees, he wants to speed up decarbonisation of the UK and to slash emissions by 81 per cent from 1990 levels by 2035. He claims he can do this without forcing people to change their lifestyle, which simply cannot be true.