The global far right are weaponising net zero – and we’ll all suffer

Last month was the hottest January on record – the latest in a string of terrifying broken records – and this weekend marks the first anniversary of global temperatures passing the crucial 1.5C limit across a whole year. These numbers might feel abstract, but what they mean for people across the world couldn’t be clearer: floods killing hundreds in Spain, storms wrecking lives and livelihoods across the Caribbean, wildfires ravaging Los Angeles.

But at the same time, here in the UK, a political party steeped in climate denialism and determined to put a stop to climate action is rising steeply in the polls – this week, Reform rose above both Labour and the Tories for the first time.

This isn’t a coincidence. While global temperatures soar and communities feel the impacts of the climate crisis, across the world, far-right politicians are mobilising to capitalise on people’s fears and anxieties – all the while preventing the kind of action that we need to secure a liveable future for us all. And when climate disasters hit communities, the chaos that follows is a gift to anti-democrats, whose stock in trade is whipping up divisions for their own gain.

Climate action and net zero have become fertile battlegrounds in the culture wars waged by the right. Politicians like Nigel Farage exploit the very real frustrations people are feeling as a result of a decade and a half of government cuts, which have hollowed out communities and left public services on their knees. But they point the finger of blame at measures aimed at reducing traffic and pollution, while those really responsible get off scot-free – like the oil and gas giants, who make a killing from polluting our environment while hiking bills so that families have to choose between heating and eating.

Across the world, far-right movements are allied to – and funded by – the ultra-wealthy, who see climate action as a threat to their ability to make a profit. Take Brexit – for many of those who voted to leave the EU, their vote was an expression of frustration at feeling ignored by those in power. But for its super-rich backers, it was about getting rid of the EU-wide protections that were designed (albeit imperfectly) to stop big businesses from exploiting workers and polluting our environment.

Now, the target has moved on, from the EU to net zero – but the playbook is the same, as is the motivation.

And as with Brexit, so with net zero. If the government wants to counter the rise of the far right, and – bluntly – to still be in government in 5 years’ time, then ministers need to focus on delivering policies that make people’s lives better, now.

Right now, they’re failing. Public services crumble and living standards stagnate, but instead of taking real action to make people’s lives better, leaders pin all their hopes on economic growth. This is a misguided approach.

First of all, climate-wrecking policies like expanding Heathrow are unlikely to produce significant growth. But more fundamentally, growth of GDP is a terrible measure of how the economy is doing – Russia’s GDP is thriving because making more tanks, bombs, bullets and military uniforms is pushing it up, but not many people would argue that this is an enviable state for a country to be in.

And crucially, economic growth doesn’t benefit everyone equally. As one woman memorably said in the Brexit debates in response to the suggestion that the EU had brought Britain growth, “That’s your bloody GDP. Not ours.”

It’s time politicians acknowledged that the economy is not some natural phenomenon that we live within but can’t change. It’s a system designed by humans – and we could design it differently. It’s time to rebalance the system so that people feel the benefits of their hard work rather than being ground down by big bills and low wages – while building a thriving green economy fit for the future.

Because the truth is that making people’s lives better and tackling the climate crisis go hand in hand. By taxing wealth fairly and putting that money into the things our country really needs, we could make sure everyone has a secure home that they can afford to heat, and afford to live in. We could make every public transport journey, from the daily commute to family holidays, cheaper and more convenient. And we could make our public services world class, putting a stop to patients being treated in hospital corridors, and giving every child the education they deserve.

People across the UK can see that the way our country is run right now doesn’t work. It doesn’t work for families, for communities, for small businesses – and it’s not working for the climate. That needs to change. If the government is going to see off the threat from Reform and the far right, it needs to acknowledge that – and start making the common-sense changes that will benefit all of us.

Carla Denyer is MP for Bristol Central and co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales