Last month, an opinion poll commissioned by the Conservative Environment Network revealed that over a quarter of Conservative voters (27 per cent) would be less likely to back the party again if the government weakened the UK's net zero target.

The poll showed that, if the party scaled back its environmental policies, it could lose around 1.5 million existing voters. But it would also lose more potential voters, since 31 per cent of those considering voting Conservative at the next General Election say they would be less likely to, if the government weakened its net zero policies.

In Red Wall constituencies, 34 per cent of all voters would be less likely to back the Conservatives if the party reduced its net zero ambition. In an article for the Daily Express, CEN MP Nick Fletcher said it's no surprise that Red Wall voters don't want the UK to wave a white flag in the global race of net zero and surrender skilled green jobs and new clean industries to other nations. CEN peer Lord Howard warned that there would be no electoral reward for letting the UK fall behind in the global push to decarbonise in response to the polling.

The think tank Onward also published new opinion polling recently, which showed the Conservatives would pay an electoral price for ditching or delaying net zero. It revealed that northern Tories are slightly more likely to support net zero (51 per cent) than the party's voters in the South (46 per cent). Public First Director James Frayne wrote on Conservative Home that, contrary to the often repeated argument that working-class, Leave-voting Conservatives do not support environmental policies, opinion polling shows they increasingly support net zero and find scepticism to it "strange at best or irritating at worst".

The CEN Parliamentary Caucus warned in a letter signed by 41 MPs to the Daily Telegraph that disruptive protests like Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion risk undermining the broad consensus behind bold environmental action. They condemned the destructive demonstrations and said that, instead of disrupting people's lives, we need to unite Britain with a credible, deliverable and affordable plan to achieve net zero by 2050. 

Following calls from CEN MPs and campaigners, the Department for Education has unveiled a plan to introduce a new natural history GCSE by September 2025. In recent months, CEN MPs Caroline Ansell, Siobhan Baillie, and Sally-Ann Hart have been pressing ministers to create the new qualification to engage young people who want to learn more about our natural environment and how to protect it. 

In other CEN news, we've revamped our podcast CEN Talks which brings you the latest centre-right discussion on restoring nature and decarbonisation. If you want to hear more about the net zero polling, Russia's state-owned Gazprom's decision to end gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, and the new natural history GSCE, you can listen on your favourite podcasting app.