We're closing our coverage on the government's plans for new exemptions and delays to several key green policies.

Today's coverage was written by Aoife Walsh, Doug Faulkner, Chas Geiger, Michael Sheils McNamee, Thomas Mackintosh, Ali Abbas Ahmadi and Megan Fisher. It was edited by Andrew Humphrey, Rob Corp and Nadia Ragozhina.

That's all from us, but you can read more about today's announcementhere, get the key takeaway's from Sunak's speech here, and read analysis from our climate and science team here.

Rishi Sunak has announced an overhaul of the government's green commitments designed to meet net zero targets the UK has made internationally.

In a speech this afternoon, he insisted this would push the "long-term interests of our country" before "short-term political needs" - but the plans have received a mixed response from both within and outside his party.

Here's the top lines:

• The ban on buying petrol and diesel cars will be pushed back to 2035, Sunak announced, while plans to force landlords to upgrade the energy efficiency of properties have been scrapped
• Grants to help families replace boilers will go up by 50% to £7,500 and there will be an exemption for the homes which will most struggle to switch to heat pumps
• Labour recommitted itself to retaining the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars
• But the party said Sunak's speech was "an act of weakness from a desperate, directionless prime minister"

• Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey hit out at Rishi Sunak, saying the prime minister "rolled over" at a time he needed to "stand up and lead"
• And the Green Party slammed Sunak's plans, calling the move a "desperate and dangerous u-turn"

• Former Prime Minister Liz Truss was among those who welcomed the measures, saying the policy changes were "important for rural areas"
• Carmaker Jaguar Land Rover said Sunak's plans were "pragmatic" and bring the UK in line with other nations

Chris Mason
Political editor

Behind his mild-mannered demeanour, this was an excoriating demolition of the Conservative governments that came before his, some of which Rishi Sunak was a member of.

Boris Johnson didn’t get a mention, but boy his ideas and instincts were shredded - painted as shallow and un-thought through.

Rishi Sunak framed this as a blunt, direct and pragmatic clearing-up job that also illustrated his political creed - willing to embrace controversy to deliver what he believes is a hard-headed necessity.

The blizzard of criticism - an unlikely alliance taking in Ford and the National Trust among many others - he sought to walk towards rather than cower from. This was a storm of political choice for him after all - the beginning of a wider political strategy.

Further speeches will follow this autumn on wider themes. Expect more leaning in from the prime minister into a more aggressive approach.

On today's green themes, he and his advisers hope, beyond those with megaphones and PR departments condemning him today, many might quietly conclude he is on to something and being reasonable.

It's a gamble, without question - dividing his party, Parliament, and many in the country. But prime ministers miles behind their opponents with an election on the horizon have no choice but to gamble.

Former US vice president and climate campaigner Al Gore has told the BBC that Rishi Sunak's announcement is "shocking and disappointing".

"I am not a citizen of the United Kingdom... but speaking from a global perspective, if I may, it's certainly shocking and disappointing, particularly at a time when the rest of the world is struggling to move in the right direction, to have a leader of the UK... turn back in the wrong direction.

"Again this is for the people of the UK, I have heard from many friends in the UK - including many members of the Conservative Party who have used the phrase 'utter disgust and contempt'."

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Former cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees Mogg - not always a supporter of Rishi Sunak - has backed his green policy shift, telling the BBC: “The problem with net zero and having regulations coming in so quickly was that it was a scheme of the elite on the backs of the least well off.

“Rishi Sunak has changed that. He is going with the grain of the nation and moving for ‘intelligent net zero’ by 2050, but not putting in costly bans in the next few years.”

Mr Rees-Mogg added that the UK produced only 1% of global carbon emissions, while China was increasing emissions "by more than we have cut them. We have to recognise the world we live in."

Despite the prime minister insisting his policy changes were partly to help families during the cost-of-living crisis, an environmental think tank says they could cost British households £8bn or more in higher bills over the next decade, due to gas prices and the scrapping of energy efficiency rules for private landlords.

The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) also says there could be a £12bn cost to the NHS due to poor housing and further impacts on household bills due to changes to the phase-out of oil boilers.

ECIU energy analyst Jess Ralston says the announcement "looks chaotic" and is "not the way long-term policy should be made around important issues".

She describes it as "quite the opposite of an honest debate" saying the implication that any of these policies will help the cost of living here and now is untrue.

"In fact, the PM has sided with landlords over renters, putting their energy bills and cost of living up by ducking the improvement of rules on energy efficiency," she says.

Labour’s Shadow Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband has condemned Rishi Sunak's speech as "an act of weakness from a desperate, directionless prime minister, dancing to the tune of a small minority of his party".

Miliband says after Liz Truss crashed the economy, Sunak is "trashing our economic future".

Far from saving people money, Miliband says the PM is loading more costs on to the British people, because clean energy will create jobs and growth.

"Delaying the phasing out of petrol and diesel cars will add billions of pounds in costs to families and damage investor confidence in the UK," he adds.

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

Downing Street sources say some of the measures ruled out by Rishi Sunak were being seriously urged on the government by the Climate Change Committee (set up in 2008 to report to Parliament on the progress made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions).

These included higher taxes on flying, car sharing, and changing diets by eating less meat.

No 10's argument is that none of this is necessary as the UK is already cutting carbon emissions faster than many other big economies.

But the opposition's and indeed Boris Johnson’s argument is that the current PM risks giving up the UK's global leadership on the issue.

Image source, Reuters

There's been a lot of talk about how car manufacturers will be impacted by the government's plan to push back the date from which new petrol and diesel vehicles will be banned from being sold - which will now come in five years later in 2035.

Jaguar Land Rover, which announced hundreds of new jobs in the West Midlands a few days ago, welcomes the change, calling it "pragmatic" and adding that it brings the UK in line with other nations.

The company says it is committed to be fully net zero by 2039 and is looking forward to "the building of the much needed infrastructure" to help people move to an "exciting electric future".

Earlier, Ford, one of the UK's most popular car brands said the change would "undermine" the move to electric.

Some more reaction now to Rishi Sunak's speech. This time we're hearing from Reform UK leader Richard Tice, who accused the prime minister of "misleading voters" by "pretending" net zero is deliverable by 2050.

Tice said Sunak is "committed to wasting billions of pounds of taxpayer’s cash" by subsidising "big corporations and vested green interests".

“We must scrap net zero now. It really is net stupid!” he added.

Justin Rowlatt
BBC Climate editor

Rishi Sunak’s rethink on the government's green pledges came as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on world leaders to accelerate ambition on climate, to turn up the tempo.

Critics - including climate scientists and activists - have said the prime minister did the opposite today by dialling down the UK’s ambition on cutting carbon.

But Sunak maintains the UK has been leading the world on climate and it is true that since 1990, emissions are down by almost half - more than other large economies.

He also says he remains committed to meeting the government’s existing targets including 68% cuts by 2030.

But even before today’s announcement there were warnings that progress is faltering. The Climate Change Committee - the government’s independent advisors on climate - expressed new concerns after the PM spoke.

Chairman Piers Foster said: "We need go away and do the calculations, but today’s announcement is likely to take the UK further away from being able to meet its legal commitments."

New boiler policy won't affect most peoplepublished at 18:27 British Summer Time 20 September 2023

18:27 BST 20 September 2023

Peter Barnes
BBC political analyst

The section of the prime minister's speech on boilers didn't really include a major policy change that will affect most people.

The old policy was set out in the 2021 Heat and Buildings Strategy:, external "Our ambition is to phase out the installation of natural gas boilers beyond 2035... no-one will be forced to remove their existing boilers."

That is in effect still the main policy. So what's new?

• The proposal that there would be no new oil or LPG boilers for off-gas-grid households after 2026 has been pushed back - the press release says to 2035, external
• Boiler upgrade scheme grants will increase from £5,000 to £7,500
• The PM said there would be a "new exemption" to help households who would particularly struggle to switch to alternatives.
• This seems to mean some households would still be able to buy new fossil fuel boilers after 2035. The press release suggests "this will cover about a fifth of homes" - including off-gas-grid homes

Image source, PA Media

As our political correspondent Iain Watson mentioned a little earlier, former Prime Minister Liz Truss has welcomed the government's plans to delay phasing out gas boilers and the ban on the sales of new petrol and diesel cars.

She said the measures are "particularly important for rural areas".

Truss has also called on the government to abolish the windfall tax on oil and gas firms and to lift the fracking ban to "reduce people's energy bills and make the UK more competitive".

Image source, PA Media

One of the prime minister's key announcements was the scrapping of energy efficiency targets for landlords.

This has been partially welcomed by the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) but the body called for support to allow landlords to make such changes in the future.

Ben Beadle, chief executive of the group, says the uncertainty around energy efficiency policy has been "hugely damaging" to the supply of rented properties, with landlords "struggling to make investment decisions".

But, while he says it is welcome that landlords will not be forced to invest substantial sums during a cost-of-living crisis, he says ministers need to develop a plan to support the rental market to make the energy efficiency improvements "we all want to see".

"This must include appropriate financial support and reform of the tax system which currently fails to support investment in energy efficiency measures," Beadle says.

Image source, Getty Images

The Green Party has also slammed the government's new approach to its net zero targets, calling it a "desperate and dangerous u-turn".

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said the move "will throw the UK economy, the wellbeing of its citizens and the future of our environment out the window".

“More than anything this speech sounded like an admission of the government’s failure to implement climate policy in a way that brings people with them while showing the benefits of a more sustainable future," Denyer said.

Image source, Reuters

Political reaction is coming to us thick and fast this evening, let us bring you some comments from the Lib Dems.

Sir Ed Davey has slammed Rishi Sunak's leadership saying the PM has put the UK "at the back of the queue as the rest of the world races to embrace the industries of tomorrow".

"The prime minister's legacy will be the hobbling of our country's future economy as he ran scared from the right wing of his own party," he adds.

"It is selfish and it epitomises his weakness. At the very time we need to stand up and lead, Sunak rolled over."

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

Labour has now unequivocally recommitted itself to keeping the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars.

Shadow environment secretary Steve Reed has also told the BBC that some of the measures Rishi Sunak has ruled out - hiking up air fares, introducing multiple recycling bins - were never on the opposition’s agenda.

So while there is a dividing line on electric vehicles (EVs), the differences aren’t necessarily as politically stark as the PM might like.

Meanwhile Liz Truss has welcomed the move in the EV deadline - something she called for earlier this week.

But she thinks Rishi Sunak should be more radical - by ending the windfall tax on oil and gas companies, and introducing fracking.

There was a flurry of announcements from the prime minister so here is a summary of some of the key things we heard in his speech:

• Britain will push back the ban on buying petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035
• Grants to help people upgrade to more energy efficient boilers will increase from £5,000 to £7,500
• The prime minister said the UK was still on target to meet its commitment of reaching net zero by 2050 and says he will attend the COP28 climate summit in Dubai later this year
• Plans to force landlords to upgrade the energy efficiency of their homes have also been scrapped

Lots of reaction to what has happened today and to a very significant speech by Rishi Sunak just there.

Labour's Shadow Secretary for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has been giving his thoughts to BBC Radio 4's PM programme.

"This is yet more chaos from a government which doesn't seem to have control of its own agenda," Steve Reed says.

"We had late-night leaks from 10 Downing Street and then a midnight press release. Ministers didn't know, MPs didn't know and businesses certainly didn't know."

Reed then accuses the Conservatives of "selling out the biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century...the green economy of the future".

He finishes by saying the government is "undermining business confidence".

Let's just return to the last question of the press conference, which came from LBC, asking why it has taken the Conservatives four years to be honest about the cost of net zero, and if Sunak will now be honest that getting to net zero will cost the taxpayer a lot of money.

In reply, Sunak said both parties hadn't had an honest conversation with the country about what was involved in trying to meet net zero targets.

He said it wasn't easy, and he had received a lot of flak but that it wasn't going to stop him from doing what he thought was right.

Sunak said change was needed and today was a change in the way politics is done.