Tynwald has rejected a call for a more pragmatic approach to climate change.

Middle MHK Stu Peters told members: ‘The science is not settled. There is no proven link between CO2 and global warming. It’s more a cult or religion than anything else.

‘Are we doing the right thing? The road to hell is paved with good intentions.’

Mr Peters’ motion called for the Council of Ministers to urgently review all net zero targets and budgets with the ‘aim of strengthening the wider Manx economy for the benefit of all residents with a more pragmatic approach to climate change’.

But Daphne Caine, who stepped down as chair of the climate change transformation board following her appointment as Education Minister, said: ‘We started our net zero journey 30 years later than we should have done.

‘Climate change is real and is happening as much in the island as elsewhere. We must stop the narrative that we are somehow too small to count.’

She accepted it was likely that we would not meet the target of reducing carbon emissions by 35% by 2030.

Chief Minister Alfred Cannan acknowledged that taken in isolation what the island did on climate change would make ‘not one jot of difference’.

But he said taken together, we could be part of ‘trying to make a difference to world around us for the sake of ourselves and future generations’.

He said it was a myth to say the government was spending millions and millions of pounds on the green agenda without considering where it was invested, and it would never jeopardise our energy security.

‘We are investing wisely and we will absolutely maintain energy security,’ he said.

Arbory, Castletown and Malew MHK Jason Moorhouse said he was concerned about ’haste and spend’. He said the rush to meet global obligations could do long-lasting damage which would be ‘bad for local people, wildlife and the environment’.

But his claim that the cost of the planned onshore windfarm at Earystane was rising by £1m a month was refuted by Treasury Minister Dr Alex Allinson, who said he had seen no basis for that, and Manx Utilities had been clear that the estimated cost would be around £40m for the entire build.

Ramsey MHK Lawrie Hooper tabled an amendment that Tynwald ‘recognises the role net zero targets play in strengthening the Manx economy for the benefit of all island residents, and notes the continued focus on delivering the island’s emission reduction targets’.

His amendment was carried by 15 votes to six in the House of Keys and unanimously in the Legislative Council and the motion as amended was voted through by 16 votes to five in the Keys and eight votes to zero in the upper house.