Households face a net zero bill of £6,070 every year until 2050, it was claimed last night, despite Rishi Sunak’s environmental policy slowdown.
Research has revealed that the price tag could reach £4.5 trillion, more than three times official estimates and 12 times more than the cost of Covid-19.
The report’s author, Ewen Stewart, said the public was “in the dark” about the true cost, which could push Britain into financial ruin.
The economist warned that “the UK’s approach is legally mandated with little regard for the wider economic and social implications”.
A report by think tank Civitas claims the independent Climate Change Commission has significantly underestimated the costs.
The report said the realistic cost of electricity production, including doubling production, would be £883bn plus financing costs, or £639bn.
The previous estimate was 334 billion pounds.
The commission estimated the cost of achieving carbon neutrality in domestic transport at £331 billion, but it could now reach £455 billion.
This takes into account the estimated £95bn impact of job losses in the car industry and the £28bn impact of installing charging points in every home.
Civitas says it will cost £750bn to make domestic and non-residential property carbon neutral, instead of the £360bn originally estimated.
With agriculture accounting for 10% of the UK’s carbon emissions, the average annual grocery bill will rise from £3,234 to £4,273 as major changes are required to farming and food production.
Conservative MP Craig McKinlay, from the Net Zero Scrutiny Group, last night slammed the “unimaginable costs”.
He said: “The UK contributes just 1 per cent of the world’s carbon dioxide. I recommend we start repealing many of the crazy laws that underpin this fairy tale.”