UK off track and confused on climate goals, says CCC report

The previous government has left the country misaligned with the UK’s net zero goals, says the Climate Change Committee’s latest report. Amidst various net zero rollbacks, it says, only a third of the necessary reductions to achieve the country’s net zero targets are in place. The committee has written a priority list of ten recommendations for the government moving forward.

While the report’s headline addresses more of the stark climate news, it still comes at a moment when the country has officially reached a point of halving emissions levels since 1990. Phasing out coal while ramping up renewables are the key contributors to this success.

According to the report, the low-carbon technology needed for the transition is available, though it is still off track. Major action must be taken in the next few years. By 2030:

• Annual offshore wind installations must increase by at least three times, onshore wind installations will need to double and solar installations must increase by five times.
• Approximately 10% of existing homes in the UK will need to be heated by a heat pump, compared to only approximately 1% today.
• The market share of new electric cars needs to increase from 16.5% in 2023 to nearly 100%.

“The plans in place from the previous Government will not deliver enough action,” says the report.

10 recommendations to Government from the CCC

To sharpen the focus of government, the Climate Change Committee has laid out ten recommendations moving forward. These include the reversal of recent policy rollbacks, making electricity cheaper, and increasing the rate of tree planting.

The Committee’s ten recommendations are:

1. Make electricity cheaper. Removing policy costs from electricity prices will support industrial electrification and ensure the lower running costs of heat pumps compared to fossil-fuel boilers are reflected in household bills.
2. Reverse recent policy rollbacks. Remove the exemption of 20% of households from the 2035 fossil-fuel boiler installation phase-out, address the gap left by removing obligations on landlords to improve the energy efficiency of rented homes and reinstate the 2030 phase-out of new fossil-fuel car and van sales. The damage of these rollbacks can be limited by quickly reinstating these policies.
3. Remove planning barriers for heat pumps, electric vehicle charge points and onshore wind.
4. Introduce a comprehensive programme for decarbonisation of public sector buildings.
5. Effectively design and implement the upcoming renewable energy CfD auctions. Ensure funding and auction design for the Sixth and Seventh Allocation Rounds are appropriate to deliver at least 50 GW of offshore wind by 2030.
6. Accelerate electrification of industrial heat. Strengthen the UK Emissions Trading Scheme to ensure that its price is sufficient to incentivise decarbonisation and that support is available for a rapid transition to electric heat across much of industry.
7. Ramp up tree planting and peatland restoration. Tree planting must be scaled up in the 2020s for abatement to be sufficient for later carbon budgets and Net Zero. There must be no more delays to addressing the barriers to delivery.
8. Finalise business models for large-scale deployment of engineered removals. Finalise and open to the market the business models for engineered removals.
9. Publish a strategy to support skills. Support workers in sectors which need to grow or transition and in communities that may be adversely impacted.
10. Strengthen NAP3 with a vision that sets clear objectives and targets and reorganise government adaptation policy. Adaptation must become a fundamental aspect of policymaking across all departments and be integrated into other national policy objectives.

The Committee will publish its advice on the Seventh Carbon Budget and an updated path to Net Zero early in 2025.

“The country’s 2030 emissions reduction target is at risk. The new Government has an opportunity to course-correct, but it will need to be done as a matter of urgency to make up for lost time. They are off to a good start,” said Professor Piers Forster, interim Chair of the Climate Change Committee.

“Action needs to extend beyond electricity, with rapid progress needed on electric cars, heat pumps and tree planting.”