CCC report: UK will not make it to net zero in time

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The Climate Change Committee (CCC) expressed its concerns about the UK government’s policies regarding the legally-binding commitment to Net-Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The CCC report noted “major policy failures” and “scant evidence of delivery.” 

The UK is failing to enact the policies needed to reach the UK’s net-zero targets said its constitutional advisers in a written progress report delivered to parliament.

Lord Deben, the chair of the CCC and a former Conservative environment secretary, said that “the government has willed the ends, but not the means,” adding that “this report showed that present plans will not fulfill the commitments [to net zero].” In other words, the chair said that the UK government had set firm targets calling for the cutting of emissions but the policy implemented to achieve them was nowhere to be found.

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On the economic end, the CCC chair said that had net-zero policies been implemented when they should have been, the UK could have reduced the soaring cost of living it is struggling with today. The argument stated that average households would have been about £125 lower today if former plans on green energy and energy efficiency had been implemented. 

“If you want to deal with the cost of living crisis, this is exactly what you need to do,” said Deben.

Deben also discussed fracking and the gas and oil industry, however, he said that he was “not worried” about coal-fired power plants' aggregate generation in response to mounting energy prices, calling it a “short-term measure” necessary to “keep the lights on” that would have a diminutive long-term impact on emissions.

Today, we publish our latest assessment of UK progress in reducing emissions. Emissions rose 4% in 2021 - now is the time to move from ambition to the delivery of promised action to tackle #climatechange. Read our new report: https://t.co/ska9Pa4wzw pic.twitter.com/hGmyPZvUeG

— Climate Change Committee (@theCCCuk) June 28, 2022

The CCC detailed how it has tracked significant turning points toward achieving the net-zero target in its yearly progress report to lawmakers. The output of renewable energy has grown significantly, for example, and the government's goal of phase-out the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars by 2030 has promoted the uptake of electric vehicles.

However, these have been followed by noteworthy failures, such as the lack of clear regulations on the 13% of UK emissions that are caused by farming and land use. “Defra [the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] is really failing to deliver,” said Chris Stark, the chief executive of the CCC.

In addition, Stark noticed widespread concerns in policy circles that the government was reversing course in reaction to the cost of the living problem after raising its ambitions in the lead-up to the Cop26 UN climate summit the previous year.

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The campaigns director at the E3G thinktank, Ed Matthew, said that “This report is an indictment of the government’s abject failure to back up its ambitious targets with credible action across the economy.”

In conclusion, a spokesperson for the government had said that “the UK is forging ahead of most other countries with around 40% of our power now coming from cleaner and cheaper renewables,” adding that “this is backed up by £6bn of funding to make our homes and buildings more energy-efficient, planting up to 30,000 hectares of new trees a year, and more electric cars than ever before on our road.” The argument of the government stands to show that, as per their claims, the UK is decarbonizing vehicles at a faster rate than any other developed country.

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