Coutinho was an architect of the initial Tory pivot away from the net zero agenda as energy secretary to Rishi Sunak, who watered down some of the party’s green commitments in a bid to revive the party’s fortunes in late 2023.
At that point, the Conservatives were still committed to the goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050 – a legal change brought in by another Tory leader, Theresa May, in 2019.
Now it has ditched the goal entirely, with Coutinho explaining to delegates that under Badenoch the party considers all “top-down targets” as an enemy of its overriding focus today to provide British homes and firms with cheaper power.
She told the fringe that in power, the Tories had got into the habit of “taking policies” from green energy lobby groups, without considering whether the “silent majority” out in the country would agree.
She also said that she had encountered “massive pushback” from officials in the energy department when she sought to stop fines for boiler manufacturers who do not hit heat pump sales targets, dubbed a “boiler tax” by critics.
The 2008 Climate Act they have now pledged to ditch, she added, had also created an “inequality in government” because strategies designed to reduce bills were not subject to the legally-binding nature enjoyed by climate law.
Striking a remorseful tone, she told members she wished the party had scrapped the legislation when it was still in power.
“I think it’s important that we recognise what we’ve got wrong, and we have to be very honest and clear about that,” she added.
