Labour's biggest union backer has warned the Government’s net zero policies risk becoming a 'political millstone' around the party's neck.
Unite said that workers would not support Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s agenda without investment to protect jobs.
It comes after former Labour prime minister Sir Tony Blair voiced criticism over ministers’ “irrational” plans to achieve net zero by 2050.
Unite donated more than £500,000 to dozens of individual Labour MPs last year as Sir Keir Starmer romped to a historic landslide victory.
But the union refused to bankroll Labour at the last general election due to the party’s stance on some environmental issues, such as banning of new oil and gas licences being granted in the North Sea.
Labour cannot expect workers to support their net zero plan
Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, said her union “is not against net zero” but added: “It will not be achieved without serious investment in new jobs.”
She added: “Unite has warned time after time that all the rhetoric about a joined-up industrial strategy and future jobs must be backed up with serious investment that actually delivers.
“What is Labour waiting for? The time to act is now. If they fail to do this, then Labour cannot expect workers to support their net zero plan."
In a foreword to a report published this week, the Tony Blair Institute argued that Mr Miliband’s current climate approach "isn't working", although it later clarified it supported the 2050 target.
Attempts to phase out fossil fuels in the short term were “doomed to fail”, the institute, which was founded in 2016, claimed.
Sir Tony also said political leaders “would like to start taking some of the hysteria out of the climate debate but are reluctant to be the first to do so”.
He added: “People know that the current state of debate over climate change is riven with irrationality ... any strategy based on either ‘phasing out’ fossil fuels in the short term or limiting consumption is a strategy doomed to fail."
Downing Street insisted the UK was taking a “pragmatic approach” to net zero, but failed to guarantee Mr Miliband’s future in the Cabinet.
A spokesman said: “The PM absolutely backs the energy secretary, as I said. He does a great job in winning the global race for the jobs of the future.”
