Green Party criticises new Reform UK leader of North Northamptonshire Council for 'irresponsible' and 'dangerous' comments on net zero

Martin Griffiths, leader of North Northamptonshire Council (NNC), voiced concerns about local net zero and carbon neutral targets, speaking after the authority’s first full council meeting last week.

In 2021, NNC declared a climate emergency and committed to becoming a carbon neutral authority by 2030.

When asked about the council’s targets by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) , Cllr Griffiths said: “It’s not going to happen, is it.

“Let’s make it absolutely clear, we are not climate change deniers, but we have concerns over the net zero targets. As our party and our leadership have said, they’re making everybody poorer.

“Tackling net zero is a global matter and my members are 100 per cent behind realistic targets.”

‘Our area is gearing up for a cleaner, more secure future- leadership should be backing this’

The Green Party is a growing voice in North Northants, doubling its vote share this year compared to the previous 2021 elections. The group returned eight councillors to the unitary council and took control of Kettering Town Council, winning all but one seat.

The leadership of North Northamptonshire Greens, Emily Fedorowycz, has knocked Cllr Griffiths’ statements on net zero as ‘irresponsible’ and ‘dangerous’.

She has instead drawn attention to the ‘enormous’ economic opportunity from climate projects and the future costs to residents if targets are ignored.

She said: “Blaming climate action for rising poverty is a deliberate distraction from the real causes: a broken energy system, years of underinvestment in insulation and public transport, and global reliance on fossil fuels.

“In Northamptonshire, the economic opportunity from Net Zero is enormous.

"In our region, over 46,000 workers are needed to retrofit homes to meet national climate targets. The UK will need over 400,000 new energy jobs by 2050, many of them in retrofit and clean heating—good, skilled, well-paid work.

“Colleges in Northamptonshire have just launched 17 new courses in sustainable careers, preparing our workforce for these exciting, new roles. Our area is already gearing up for a cleaner, more secure future – and leadership should be backing this, not undermining it.

“Net Zero also means serious investment and economic growth—the UK’s green economy grew by nine per cent in 2023, while the rest of the economy barely moved. Funding is coming thick and fast. If we’re not ready, North Northamptonshire risks falling behind while other places reap the benefits.

“Net Zero isn’t what’s making people poorer – it’s doing the exact opposite. It’s saving people money, right now, and it’s what will protect us from even greater financial, environmental and social costs.

“Local councils have a duty to ensure good risk management, and this means a responsibility to lead on this issue, not retreat from it.

"If this administration chooses to ignore science, economics, and the voices of its own communities, it is going to cost not just today’s residents – but future generations too.”

‘I will be watching NNC’s climate approach closely’

Labour MP for Kettering, Rosie Wrighting, has also hit back at the comments on social media.

In a Facebook post about the matters, she wrote: “Constituents regularly raise concerns with me about the climate emergency and bills. Tackling net zero is vital to both issues, so I am disappointed to read these comments by the new Reform leader of North Northamptonshire Council.

“Cllr Griffiths describes it as a ‘global matter’, brushing it off as someone else’s problem. But local councils have a role to play and I will be watching NNC’s climate approach closely.”

Leader of North Northamptonshire Council Martin Griffiths said: “Labour and the Greens are strangling Brits with their Net Zero zealotry, jacking up energy bills to some of the highest in the western world and making the cost of living crisis even worse for hard working people.

“Net Zero is estimated to cost the public purse £3 trillion or £100 billion pounds every year. This is more than the entire national debt and would cost UK households over £100,000.

“As a direct result of net zero targets we have lost and are losing hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs for our people and perversely we’re buying hundreds of thousands of solar panels manufactured in China, and installing them on perfectly good agricultural and pastoral land changing the very fabric of our countryside forever.

“The madness doesn’t end there. We are also buying and importing timber products from all over the world and burning that wood in power stations here in the UK.”