Blair’s backing of carbon capture won’t save the climate
Tony Blair has been forced to roll back his criticism of Keir Starmer’s net zero policies, just a day after warning that the Government’s plan to boost renewable energy was too expensive.
Despite some clarifications from Tony Blair, he is still dangerously advocating for unproven carbon capture technologies over phasing out fossil fuels. This is short-sighted, wrong, and undermines the 2008 Climate Change Act, a cornerstone of the last Labour Government.
The Tony Blair Institute’s new report lacks the vision we desperately need to scale up renewable energy production and protect our planet for future generations. It hands ammunition to Labour’s rivals, including Nigel Farage, who now claims he’s “winning the argument”.
A constant focus on carbon capture fuels the oil and gas agenda—and sidelines Labour’s mission to turbocharge the race to a cheaper, cleaner, renewable future. Especially as existing carbon capture can handle just 0.1 per cent of global emissions.
By inadvertently aligning with climate sceptics like Reform, Kemi Badenoch, and the fossil fuel lobby, Blair betrays the communities hit hardest by climate chaos—and ignores the public call for real action. Carbon capture is not some silver bullet, but is instead costly, unproven and largely ineffective.
Although his successor, Keir Starmer, has set a bold target tocut emissions by 81 per cent by 2035—he, too, has faltered bystalling the Climate and Nature Bill in January. This was a grave mistake that reflects Labour’s addiction to short-term thinking. The Bill enjoys strong cross-party support, from leading politicians including Carla Denyer, Zac Goldsmith, Ed Davey and Sadiq Khan.
Backed by 191 MPs, it offers a bold, science-led framework to meet the UK’s international targets and integrate climate and nature action. We should remember that scientists stress we must solve both crises, or we may as well solve neither.
Last Wednesday, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) warned that we are unprepared for worsening climate impacts, underscoring the need to adapt. It’s clear that we must now prevent further climate breakdown by updating our climate and environmental laws.
Blair must know that wind and solar power produced 58 per cent of UK electricity in 2024, and that studies show 100 per cent renewable energy is achievable by 2050. He must know that the world has to halve fossil fuel use by 2030 to limit warming and protect communities from floods and heatwaves. But what he’s conveniently forgotten is that this requires keeping fossil fuels in the ground, like the North Sea’s Rosebank and Jackdaw fields, and accelerating clean energy development.
What former leaders like Blair should not be doing is banking on costly, unproven tech. With his Saudi Arabian ties, his claims that global fossil fuel demand justifies inaction is an appalling cop out. The Met Office reports one of the warmest May starts ever, and Pacific Island states are begging richer nations to act, as their survival hinges on collective commitments.
The CCC’s latest report amplifies the urgency: more than 6 million properties face flood risk, rising to 8 million by 2050; heat deaths could reach 10,000 yearly; and GDP may drop 7 per cent. Marginalised groups—lower-income families, rural communities, and people of colour—will (again) suffer the most. The CCC’s Baroness Brown rightly highlights poor government coordination, calling for climate and nature to become a cross-government priority.
We’re at a crossroads. Despite 76 per cent of UK voters supporting net zero, Blair’s claim that it lacks backing—echoing Badenoch’s “impossible” stance and Farage’s denialism—deepens divisions. The CAN Bill, adjourned (but not ended) by MPs in January, is the framework needed to answer the CCC’s call for policy integration.
Building on Labour’s 2008 legacy, it embeds justice in our climate and nature plans—and involves us, the public, through a citizens’ assembly—fostering informed, depoliticised support for the bold policies we need. This also boosts trust in governance, which Labour sorely needs right now.
From council estates to coastal towns, people want stronger climate action. Our MPs must listen and take strong action to tackle nature’s destruction and climate change. Let’s reject denial, delay and defeat—and build a nature-rich, zero-carbon future together—by passing a Climate and Nature Act.
Dominique Palmer is an award-winning climate communicator, advocate, artist and writer focussing on slow fashion and climate joy.
