The Conservative Environment Network (CEN) hosted its hustings in Parliament today, with all five Conservative leadership candidates settings out their pitches on the environment, net zero, and climate action.
Over 45 CEN Parliamentary Caucus members attended the hustings to listen to candidates' statements and scrutinise their plans. The hustings was organised by CEN MP Chris Skidmore and chaired by COP26 President Alok Sharma.
Ahead of the hustings, four leadership candidates, Penny Mordaunt, Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, and Tom Tugendhat, backed CEN's pledge to deliver net zero by 2050, halt the decline in nature by 2030, and tackle air and river pollution.
Sam Hall, Director of the Conservative Environment Network, commented: "I was delighted to hear all five leadership contenders pledge to honour the UK's net zero by 2050 target. Net zero is necessary to tackle dangerous climate change, win a majority for the Conservatives in 2024, ease cost of living pressures, and drive clean growth across the UK. It's clear that the net zero debate in this leadership contest is about how - not if - we should decarbonise our economy.
"Polls consistently show that the environment is one of the public's top priorities. In the remaining stages of this contest, it is important that the leadership candidates continue to set out their plans for delivering on their environmental commitments."