UK: The Climate Change Committee has released its annual progress report with the headline that the UK is off track to reach Net Zero.
According to the Climate Change Committee (CCC) only a third of the emissions reductions required to achieve the country’s 2030 target are currently covered by credible plans.
The 2030 target is the first goal in place to keep to a Net Zero trajectory.
However, the CCC also explained that the country’s emissions are now less than half the levels they were in 1990 which is put down to the phasing out of coal and the introduction of renewable energy.
To get the UK back on track to reach Net Zero the CCC wants urgent action with an emphasis on electric cars, heat pumps and more tree planting.
Professor Piers Forster, interim chair of the Climate Change Committee said: “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.
“Action needs to extend beyond electricity, with rapid progress needed on electric cars, heat pumps and tree planting.
“The transition to Net Zero can deliver investment, lower bills, and energy security. It will help the UK keep its place on the world stage. It is a way for this Government to serve both the people of today and the people of tomorrow.”
According to the CCC much of the low carbon technology needed is already available but the scale up and roll out of that technology are off track.
To keep on track with Net Zero targets 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 per cent of existing homes in the UK will need to be heated by a heat pump, compared to only approximately 1 per cent today.
And the market share of new electric cars needs to increase from 16.5 per cent in 2023 to nearly 100 per cent. That’s a lot to achieve in five and a half years.
The Committee also notes the previous Government’s roll backs have caused considerable damage and increased the gap between plans and targets, leaving the country further off track.
The CCC website says: “The Committee urges the new Government to address this, with a clear commitment to the Net Zero transition, backed with rapid policy action and a sharp-eyed focus on removing barriers. The Committee hopes the new Government will take the opportunity of COP29 in November to re-establish UK leadership on the global climate stage.”
As part of the progress report the CCC has made 10 recommendations including making electricity cheaper, reinstating the 2030 phase-out of fossil fuel and van sales, removing planning barriers for heat pumps, electric vehicle charge points and onshore wind, accelerating electrification of industrial heat, ramping up tree planting and peatland restoration, finalising business models for large-scale deployment of engineered removals, publishing a strategy to support skills and strengthening the National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) which sets the actions that the Government and others will take to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
The Committee will publish its advice on the Seventh Carbon Budget and an updated path to Net Zero early in 2025.
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