Rubert Darwall, strategy consultant and policy analyst. Fellow of the Real Clear Foundation. Read economics and history at Cambridge University: The stated aim of the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is to avoid dangerous anthropogenic interference in the climate system. 1.5°C to save small islands is a brilliant soundbite that turns out to be 100% wrong. On what basis did the IPCC mandate net zero by 2050? The process of revising the carbon budget demonstrates it is more of a smoke and mirrors exercise than hard science. Unilateral net zero will make companies, their shareholders, employees, customers and local communities poorer. There is no economic, social or ethical justification for self-impoverishment, as it benefits no-one but green rent-seekers and the West’s competitors.
