The Committee on Climate Change has published its annual report to Parliament, assessing progress in reducing UK emissions over the past year.
The report finds that UK action to curb greenhouse gas emissions is lagging in what is needed to meet legally binding emissions targets. Since June 2018, Government has delivered only 1 of 25 critical policies needed to get emissions reductions back on track.
Echoing some of the issues flagged in the BVRLA’s Road to Zero Report Card, a comprehensive analysis of the Government’s progress towards its Road to Zero targets, the Committee recommends the following:
- Net-zero policy is embedded across all levels and departments of Government, with strong leadership at the centre. The new Prime Minister will need to lead the UK’s zero-carbon transition from day one, working closely with First Ministers in Wales and Scotland and in Northern Ireland, once appointed.
- Government policies to reduce UK emissions to net zero are business friendly. Policy should provide clear and stable direction and a simple, investable set of rules and incentives which leave room for businesses to innovate and find the most effective means of switching to low-carbon technologies.
- The public must be fully engaged in the UK’s net-zero transition. Over half of the emissions cuts required to reach net zero require people to do things differently. Policy and low-carbon products should be designed around individuals’ needs.
- The UK strongly leads international action to tackle climate change. The UK should use its new net-zero target, and potential position as host of COP26, to encourage increased effort to reduce emissions worldwide, including pushing for the adoption of similar world-leading targets by other developed countries in the EU and beyond.
More information can be found on the Committee on Climate Change website.
