Opposition to net zero has emerged as a major issue on the Conservative Right. The Global Warming Policy Foundation, described by DeSmog as “the UK’s most prominent climate science denial group”, has rebranded itself Net Zero Watch, while the Net Zero Scrutiny Group of backbench Tory MPs – led by long standing Eurosceptics Craig Mackinlay and Steve Baker – has called on Boris Johnson to water down environmental proposals.
Politico reported last week that the UK government is now looking to U-turn on its own net-zero targets: its energy strategy has been delayed, and it will reportedly have loopholes on “national security” and “geopolitical consideration” that will pave the way to renewed drilling for North Sea oil and gas.
Hosking’s political history
Hosking has been at the centre of UK conservative politics for over a decade, donating more than £6m to campaigns.
He is reputed to have a fortune of £385m and was ranked in 2020 by The Sunday Times Rich List as the 346th richest person in Britain, as well as being a major shareholder in Crystal Palace Football Club. He donated £1.7m to Vote Leave, making him the third-biggest Brexit donor. He also deserted the Conservatives to fund a series of pro-Brexit causes – first Farage’s Brexit Party, then the Brexit Express campaign for a hard Brexit. Hosking also bankrolls The Critic magazine, which regularly publishes stories railing against net-zero targets.
More recently, he has funded the Reclaim Party. As openDemocracy showed last October, Reclaim shares a spokesperson – Lois Perry – with the climate sceptic group Car26.
The Reclaim Party has declared 51 donations totalling £2.2m since it was created. Every single one of them has been from Hosking – the party has not declared any other donors. Hosking’s Reclaim funding stretches back to March 2019, even though the party did not officially launch until October 2020. Reclaim says it “is not accepting any third-party donations at this time”. It is understood that Reclaim prefers to limit itself to just one donor, to have certainty over who is funding it.
The investments
The most recent records available show that Hosking Partners had more than $134m in investments across the energy sector in the final quarter of 2021. The firm manages an $8bn investment portfolio overall.
Nearly two-thirds of that amount is in the oil industry. The largest stake is worth $34.5m in Texas-based oil and gas multinational ConocoPhillips, with a further $15.8m in US-based Marathon Petroleum. $20.6m is in the Brazilian state-owned oil multinational Petroleo Brasiliero, plus $19.6m in crude oil tanker firm DHT Holdings, and $8.5m in oil tanker firm International Seaways.
Hosking Partners’ remaining energy investments are also focused on fossil fuels. $13.9m is in coal company Peabody Energy, and a further $4.5m in Warrior Met Coal. The business also has $5.7m invested in Golar LNG (Liquid Natural Gas), $2.8m in drilling firm NOW Inc, and $8.2m in oil and gas drilling firm the Apache Corporation.