The former Labour prime minister said recently that present policies for tackling global warming were ‘inadequate’ and ‘distorting the debate’. Writing the foreword for an April 2025 report by his think tank, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, the UK’s leader from 1997 to 2007 added that a strategy based on limiting consumption of fossil fuels in ‘the short term’ was ‘doomed to fail’. The full report, The Climate Paradox: Why We Need to Reset Action on Climate Change, said net-zero policies were ‘increasingly viewed as unaffordable, ineffective or politically toxic’.Advertisement It added: ‘We need a political strategy that wins and ends the net-zero culture war.’ Simon Sturgis, a former sustainability adviser to the Stirling Prize, and head of respected consultancy Targeting Zero, urged architects to ignore the former prime minister’s views. ‘To give up on net zero as Tony Blair is suggesting is to give up on your grandchildren and great grandchildren,’ he said. Constantly watering down carbon emission targets would lead to ‘abject failure’ against climate goals, Sturgis insisted. ‘The UK should see net zero as the next industrial revolution, which also had its naysayers at the beginning. We should be enthusiastically leading this to help cement the UK’s forward-looking position in the world.’Advertisement Environmental activist and academic Duncan Baker-Brown, who runs East Sussex-based BakerBrown Studio, said he was ‘puzzled’ by Blair’s comments. The former prime minister's institute had said in a report just two months earlier that ‘green growth must be part of the government’s economic strategy’ as ‘fully capitalising on the net-zero transition could provide a major boost to UK growth’. Baker-Brown, who ran for RIBA president last year, said it was ‘frustrating’ to read the latest report and speculated as to whether it was published ‘to pander to Trump’. He added: ‘It is a distraction. Do we disengage from clean renewable energy sources in construction? No way. The UK has more than halved its carbon emissions since 1990, we are doing really well, the grid is getting cleaner every year.’ Yet Blair’s comments, and those of other politicians, are unlikely to change the direction of building design, according to Baker-Brown. ‘People are questioning the climate emergency. Trump and other climate deniers are emboldened – Reform call it “nutty net zero” – but it is just noise. When you go back to your computer to design a building, there are regulatory and economic factors that mean you will end up with a scheme plugged into renewables.’ HKS London principal and managing director Gary Clark said a failure to fund the infrastructure needed for renewables to grow to their potential had ‘led to a growing negative media reaction to net zero’. He added: ‘What is missing in the current debate is a positive message. We do have all the design strategies and technology to create net-zero homes now that are not only affordable but more healthy and comfortable and would lift many families out of fuel poverty.’ Clark urged Blair to visit Mikhail Riches and Cathy Hawley's 2019 Stirling Prize-winning Goldsmith Street residential scheme in Norwich, which he said could ‘demonstrate the inverse of his thesis, as it creates financial benefits and a better quality of life’. He said architects should ‘promote the business benefits of sustainable design, and demonstrate by example that a regenerative, sustainable future’ is possible. Studio Saar co-founders Ananya Singhal and Jonny Buckland said in a joint statement that they ‘firmly believe humanity can move completely away from using fossil fuels in the built environment’. They added: ‘If we reach for the stars and challenge ourselves through aggressive targets, we can incentivise the development of effective solutions for climate change. ‘[The] UK's net zero journey is not a threat, but an opportunity. If embraced by the whole country, it will put us in the vanguard of the fight, enabling us to develop solutions we can share with the rest of the world, benefiting us all and spurring on immeasurable growth.’ ‘The science is clear: we must not only decarbonise, but we must do so urgently’ While Volkan Doda, head of design technologies at Atelier Ten, said Blair was ‘spot on’ in suggesting a ‘wide perspective on sustainability and pragmatism’ was ‘essential’ to deliver sustainable design, he added: ‘What he fails to recognise is that if we are to build the better future, we cannot simply surrender and change course when challenged by perceived shifts in public opinion. ‘We also cannot ignore science as we widen our perspective on sustainability. The science is clear: we must not only decarbonise, but we must do so urgently. We must also do so without adding more strain on other planetary systems. ‘Building designers are already rising to this challenge. Politicians should follow suit and lead by improving public opinion informed by science, instead of pitting it against science.’ A recent history of net zero in the UK In 2019, Conservative prime minister Theresa May pledged that Britain would ‘reach net zero by 2050’ – effectively eradicating its overall impact on the climate by the middle of this century. She said at the time that it was crucial to achieve this goal ‘o ensure we protect our planet for future generations’. May's successor, Boris Johnson, said in 2021 that the government's net zero strategy was ‘to lead the world in ending our contribution to climate change’. He added: ‘By moving first and making the UK the birthplace of the Green Industrial Revolution, we are building a defining competitive edge.’ Labour prime minister Keir Starmer said last year that Britain would aim for an 81 per cent cut from its 1990 carbon emission levels in 2035. He also reinstated a requirement, dropped by his Tory predecessor Rishi Sunak, for all new cars sold after 2030 to have some form of electric, hybrid or zero-emission power. A spokesperson for the current government said this month: ‘The clean energy mission is in the DNA of this government because it is the route to energy security, lower bills, and good jobs for our country. ‘We have already seen £43 billion of private investment announced into clean energy since July, with businesses backing our plan to deliver good jobs for working people, including 2,000 only last week in carbon capture and storage. ‘We will continue to deliver our mission to make our country secure and drive economic growth for our Plan for Change.’ A technical accreditation scheme for net-zero buildings, developed by key bodies including the RIBA, is set to launch this year. From January 2026, completed buildings will be able to obtain verification under the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard. However, several whole-life carbon experts last month criticised ‘several serious flaws’ with the initiative.