UK low-carbon transition ‘stalled’

A lack of government action on climate change is threatening to derail the UK’s transition to a low-carbon economy, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) warned today.

Inaction is making it difficult for businesses and the UK public to grasp the opportunities of the transition, CCC said in its 2017 report to parliament.

It added that good progress has been made, but continued advancements depend on “significant new measures”.

Greenhouse gas emissions are about 42% lower than in 1990, about halfway to the 2050 commitment to reduce emissions by at least 80% below 1990 levels.

However, progress is stalling with emissions mainly falling in the power sector since 2012 and rising in the transport and buildings sectors.

“Effective new strategies and new policies are urgently needed to ensure emissions continue to fall in line with the commitments agreed by parliament,” CCC said.

It recommends that the government deliver a plan to continue reducing emissions across the economy to address the gap between parliament’s agreed targets and the impact of existing policies.

The plan should include ways to bring forward additional low-carbon electricity generation through the 2020s and set out a strategy for deploying carbon capture and storage technology, CCC said.

CCC chairman Lord Deben said: “New plans, for a new parliament, are needed as a matter of urgency to meet our legal commitments, grasp the opportunities offered by the global low-carbon transition, and protect people, businesses and the environment from the impacts of a changing climate.”

The CCC is the UK government’s advisory body climate change.

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