WATCH: CCC report, UK plans only credible for 1/3 of emissions
The latest Climate Change Committee report is another damning indictment of historic and ongoing lack of preparedness for the challenge ahead.
Yesterday King Charles III laid out a number of promises from the new Labour government in his Westminster address, marking the start of the new parliamentary session. Despite much of the climate-aligned content being broadly welcomed, including the proposed Great British Energy and a plan for nationalised rail, critics also pointed to a lack of clarity on framework and the need to take a holistic approach to many of the more far-reaching plans.
This has now been followed by the Climate Change Committee’s latest progress report, laying bare the huge amount of work that now needs to be done to meet legally binding emissions targets. According to the independent, non-political organisation, roadmaps currently in place only offer credible solutions for dealing with around one-third of the UK’s total greenhouse gas output, well behind where policy needs to be at this stage in the transition process.
‘While the new government has made a positive start on climate action by setting out plans for decarbonising electricity, including lifting the ban on onshore wind, and withdrawing its legal defence of plans for a new coal mine in Cumbria, it urgently needs to ramp up ambition on cutting emissions from homes and buildings, transport and agriculture,’ said Danny Gross, climate campaigner at Friends of the Earth.
‘Every government department will need to swing behind policies for a fair, green transition to a zero-carbon economy if it’s to meet its manifesto pledge to achieve the UK’s commitment to reduce emissions by over two thirds by 2030,’ he continued.
Although troubling, the news is unlikely to surprise many involved in environmental and climate work, alongside activists. In May, the then-Conservative government lost a High Court battle to defend its Carbon Budget Delivery Plan, which was found to be unlawful and in breach of the Climate Change Act. The judge ruled that a new plan must be drawn up within 12 months.
Adding to the woes of former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s cabinet at the time, in June another legal hearing concluded that planning permission for a new fossil fuel operation in Surrey should not have been given due to the ‘profound implications for countryside and climate’.
Despite being a local planning matter, the fact the development was green lit reflected a wider ongoing commitment to the fossil fuel industries on the part of the Tories. The long-contested Cumbrian coal mine is another example, with Sir Keir Starmer’s new government already announcing they would not contest local groups that have fought for several years to block the development, a move many believe raises hopes that Labour recognise the scale of the environmental crisis, and the need to move away from oil, gas and other high polluting fuels as a matter of urgency.
‘It is concerning that the committee has found that only a third of the emissions reductions required to achieve the country’s 2030 target are currently covered by credible plans. Councils can have some impact on over 80 per cent of emissions from their area, and a direct impact on a third of emissions through their role in transport and housing to renewable energy,’ said Cllr Claire Holland, environment spokesperson for the Local Government Association [LGA].
‘We want to work with government to help deliver their green energy mission, and as local leaders, only councils can lead targeted local climate action in our villages, towns and cities that hit net zero targets for half the costs and generate three times the returns,’ she continued. ‘To deliver this we need backing for local climate action to rapidly retrofit social and fuel poor homes, decarbonise transport, protect and grow biodiversity, and powers to roll out renewable energy schemes.’
Watch the Climate Change Committee’s 2024 Report to Parliament below.
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Image: Markus Spiske