Keir Starmer is right: Net Zero is a matter of a national security |
30 April 2025, 08:04
By Rob Stait
‘Energy security is national security’.
These were the words of Keir Starmer in the past few days as he reiterated his government’s support for a low-carbon future at a conference of more than sixty countries in London.
What the Prime Minister was alluding to is a crucial point, and one that has been somewhat overlooked in the wider discussion around the push for decarbonisation.
Net Zero is a moral issue, it is an economic issue - it is also of course an existential issue for the future of humanity - but right now, with the state of geopolitics as it is, it is a defence issue.
The world economy is still very much feeling the intense shock of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with fossil fuel dependent countries that relied on Russia’s pipeline gas facing volatility and the wider market experiencing great disruption. The seismic effect of that event sent the clearest possible message in favour of energy resilience and self-sufficiency.
And the message is this: In an........