Media contributions
1Media contributions
Title Politicians now talk of climate ‘pragmatism’ to delay action – new study Degree of recognition International Media name/outlet The Conversation Media type Web Country/Territory UK United Kingdom Date 4/09/25 Description Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has described her plan to “maximise extraction” of the UK’s oil and gas from the North Sea as a “common sense” energy policy.
Politicians are using language like this increasingly often – calling themselves “pragmatic” on climate change and invoking “common sense”. It sounds reasonable, reassuring, and grownup – the opposite of “hysterical” campaigners or “unrealistic” targets.
But new research my colleagues and I conducted, calling on a decade of interviews with UK MPs, shows that political “pragmatism” is fast becoming a dangerous form of climate delay. By framing urgent action as “extreme” and steady-as-she-goes policies as “pragmatic”, leaders across the political spectrum are protecting the fossil-fuel status quo at the very moment scientists warn we need rapid, transformative change.URL https://theconversation.com/politicians-now-talk-of-climate-pragmatism-to-delay-action-new-study-264317 Persons Steve Westlake