Lib Dem leadership candidate Wera Hobhouse has confirmed her intention to pull the party’s target for net-zero carbon in the UK forward by five years – from 2045 to 2040.

Shortly after former Coalition Minister, Sir Ed Davey and Oxford MP Layla Moran confirmed they would also back the move.

Hobhouse made the comments at the Green Lib Dems digital conference on Saturday evening as she accused the Conservatives of being “climate delayers”.

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for the Climate Crisis and Environment and Candidate for Leader said:

“Today, I am making the case that, as a result of the Coronavirus crisis, we can bring our party’s ambition for net-zero down from 2045 to 2040.

“It would place the Liberal Democrats firmly alongside the Greens and Labour in our commitment to fighting the crisis, but differentiates us clearly from the climate action delayers who run the Conservative party.

“As a result of the Coronavirus crisis, we can be far more ambitious and radical in our approach to the climate crisis.

“Take the aviation industry. COVID has seriously damaged companies within it, and the government is bailing them out. Well, they shouldn’t be getting something for nothing.

“With the right political will, we can force it to accelerate the pace of change. We need to replace jet fuel with synthetic fuels, and advance technological change in the industry right now.

“We also need to empower local communities to tackle the climate crisis.

“Many things we want to do locally hit the wall, because so much of the process in the country is centralised in Westminster and Whitehall.

“Our commitment to climate action and our commitment to local government go hand in hand. We have to tackle the climate crisis at every level in our society.”