Reinstating former prime minister Rishi Sunak’s scrapped programs will cut bills, the Climate Change Committee said in its largely critical assessment of the UK’s climate action. But despite the UK lagging behind on many key measures, top officials were optimistic about the future.
Reversing the last government’s decision to scrap or scale back some climate policies would help tackle the cost of living and reduce bills, Britain’s climate watchdog said.
The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) said there was “no evidence” for Rishi Sunak. claims last year that mitigating climate action would save people moneyand said that “inconsistent messages” can actually have the opposite effect.
Its acting chief executive, Dr James Richardson, said: “These rollback measures have been unhelpful, will slow progress, will not help households with high energy costs or help the UK’s energy security.
“To achieve this, we need to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels.”
But a “quick restoration” of old targets for heat pumps, electric cars and home insulation would “limit” the damage and save people money, both now and in the long term, he said.
How is the country doing with its climate goals now?
In its annual assessment of the UK’s climate homework, the committee gave a mostly lackluster verdict.
It said the country was “not on track” to cut emissions by 68% from 1990 levels by 2030, and only one-third of the needed reductions in polluting gases were covered by a “credible plan”.
Achieving the target would lower some bills and boost energy security, he said.
The new government is off to a “good start” on greening the electricity system, including lifting a ban on onshore wind farms, senior advisers have said.
But they warned Labor must also tackle transport and buildings, plant many more trees and make electricity cheaper for people to reap the benefits of switching to heat pumps or EVs.
The annual progress report also found:
- Electricity bills would be cheaper if social and green charges were removed and collected elsewhere – for example from gas bills or general taxes. This could increase gas bills, although it would encourage a switch to green technologies.
- The share of new electric cars (EVs) on the market must rise from today’s 16.5% to almost 100% in 2030 – but they should be cheaper to buy in the coming years.
- Reinstating repealed energy efficiency standards for landlords would lower bills for tenants.
- It is “particularly unclear how [last government’s] A 20% exemption from the ban on fossil fuel boilers will help reduce costs’, as the costs of maintaining the network would then fall on so few households.
- By 2030, annual offshore wind power must triple, onshore wind power must double, and solar power must increase fivefold.
- 10% of households should have a heat pump, while today it is 1%.
- Only five of the 22 metrics are currently on track, such as reduced energy demand in buildings and automobile traffic, likely due to high bills and the pandemic.
- But we are off track on things like delivery vans, EVs, heat pumps and tree planting.
The message follows England was drenched in its wettest 18 months since records began in 1836, they were spoiling crops for struggling farmers and disrupting trains.
This is why “we need to make our whole society much more resilient” to climate impacts by strengthening “unambitious” adaptation plansaid Professor Piers Forster, interim chairman of the committee.
He also called for an “honest conversation” about both the cost of net zero and the benefits to society as a whole.
Jonny Marshall of the Resolution Foundation think tank said some of the measures had “the potential to benefit the family budgets of poorer households” – but only if they were managed stably and fairly.
Changes to electricity bills risked rising gas bills, he warned, but said the welfare tariff could protect struggling households.
Why advisers are optimistic about climate action
But despite the grim news, committee members said there were reasons to be happy.
UK emissions have already fallen by more than half (53% lower) compared to 1990, largely due to the end of coal power and a surge in renewables.
It has achieved three previous major targets – known as ‘carbon budgets’ – to reduce greenhouse gases, thanks to previous Labor and Conservative governments.
The rapid growth of electric cars is now making a “measurable” dent in pollutant emissions, a progress report says.
Professor Forster said it was “absolutely” still possible to meet the 2030 target if the Government acted on the CCC’s advice.
What was in the King’s Speech?
Acting chief executive Dr James Richardson said he was “most cheerful about the rapidly falling prices of some of these key technologies”, such as batteries and solar power.
These effects “will really change not only the net zero agenda, but also household bills.”
Dr Emily Nurse, CCC’s head of net zero, said she was hopeful for heat pumps because other countries had already shown us “it can be done”.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “The good news is that this report confirms that a clean energy future is the best way to make Britain energy independent, reduce bills, create good jobs and tackle the climate crisis.”
A Conservative Party spokesman said: “As the CCC acknowledges, we have decarbonised more than any other G20 country while growing the economy by 80%.
“The climate lobby and Labor want to go further and faster, but if this comes at extra costs to struggling families or sends our businesses overseas to more polluting countries, then it will do more harm than good to global carbon emissions. .”