When your social feeds regularly feature videos of Just Stop Oil protesters being thrown to the ground by angry motorists and daytime TV presents climate change as a Don’t Look Up-style debate, it can be easy to forget that much of the UK public really does care about the environment. 

Almost two-thirds of adults (64%) recently surveyed by the Office for National Statistics said they had worried about the impact of climate change in the past year. And overall, people in the UK are much more supportive of green policies than our peers in similar countries, a statement that holds true across the political spectrum.

All of which makes it even more bewildering – in a summer during which we’ve seen intense flooding in India, record-breaking heatwaves in southern Europe and the oceans hitting their hottest ever recorded temperature – that Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, is doubling down on an approach to the environment that climate change experts have condemned as “sending a wrecking ball through the UK’s climate commitments”.

With Earth Overshoot Day (the date when humanity’s demand for resources exceeds what the planet can generate that year) falling on 2 August, it can feel as though the UK is moving backwards when it comes to tackling environmental collapse. But what exactly has Sunak announced this week and what could it all mean for the planet?

On 31 July, the prime minister announced that his government would be green-lighting more than 100 new oil and gas licences in the North Sea, arguing that this will “boost British energy independence” and “reduce reliance on hostile states”. He insisted this expansion will fit into the UK’s wider goal of reaching net zero by 2050. Just days earlier, Sunak announced that his government will be reviewing low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs), telling The Telegraph that he is “on motorists’ side”. The Tories are also pushing for a delay on the planned 2030 phase-out of petrol and diesel cars. All in all, it doesn’t sound like great news for the environment.

Many have suggested that Sunak is taking these stances on the environment due to the Tories’ narrow success in the Uxbridge byelection in mid-July, where they campaigned against a ULEZ (ultra-low emission zone) in London, signalling that environmental policies could serve as a possible ‘wedge’ issue to turn people away from Labour. It certainly seems clear that the Conservatives want to position themselves as poles apart from their political rivals when it comes to the planet: when Grant Shapps, the energy secretary, tweeted about the new oil and gas licences, he framed the announcement as the government “saying no to Just Stop Oil and their political wing the Labour Party”.

Since then, Sunak seems to be going full steam ahead on cutting back on key climate change policies in an effort to win back public support and votes. But his announcements have been met with widespread criticism – including from within his own party. 

Tory MP Chris Skidmore, chair of the cross-party environmental group, said the decision to expand the number of oil and gas fields in the North Sea is “the wrong decision at precisely the wrong time, when the rest of the world is experiencing record heat waves”. Zac Goldsmith, Sunak’s own climate minister, resigned in June over the government’s approach to environmental issues, blaming Sunak’s “apathy” towards climate change. If your own party doesn’t think your environmental policies are a good idea, then it’s hard to see how these are supposed to be getting the public to back you.

Environmental groups and opposition parties have also accused Sunak of using this issue as a political tool, with Ed Miliband, the shadow climate change secretary, saying Sunak is waging “a culture war on climate”. Just Stop Oil echoed this sentiment in a statement accusing the Tories of “shamelessly stoking culture wars and spinning endless lies to keep themselves in power”. And on 3 August, Greenpeace campaigners climbed up and covered the prime minister’s North Yorkshire mansion in oil-black fabric, in opposition to the North Sea expansion. Sunak and his family weren’t at home, though; they’d just flown out to California on holiday.

The prime minister may be trying to get voters back on his side. But globally, July was the hottest month ever recorded. The majority of the UK public is worried about climate change, and every day we hear news of more environmental disasters around the world. At a time when this issue should be high on the political and public agenda, you’d think it would be time for the government to focus on cross-party action. It couldn’t be more disheartening to see the planet become the latest pawn in the game of politics.

Images: Getty