Green Alliance’s Net Zero Policy Tracker shows big gaps between UK action plans and commitments
In the latest update on the UK government’s progress towards meeting its Net Zero Strategy Goals, independent think-tank, Green Alliance, says significant gaps in policy indicate “the UK remains off track to meet its Net Zero climate commitment by 2050.”
However, Green Alliance notes: “With signs of wavering ambition on the environmental agenda across Westminster, it is vital that politicians from all political parties, particularly those responsible for briefs that materially impact the decarbonisation agenda, put forward credible plans on how they will get the UK back on track for Net Zero.”
According to the latest tracker update, focusing on progress against Net Zero strategy during the 5th carbon budget 2028-2032, policy needed to achieve almost 20 per cent of required GHG emissions cuts remains under consultation rather implementation, with a further 17 per cent covered only by “policy ambition” and 16% without any policy at all.
While three key economic sectors – Transport, Heat and Buildings, and Agriculture and Land Use – are highlighted for most concern, significant policy gaps also remain in regard to GHG reductions for both Industry, and Waste and Fluorinated Gases.
While urging the UK government to progress emissions reduction policies from consultation to implementation during the current Parliament, Green Alliance emphasises that effective action on climate change in the next “will be crucial. Strong leadership, covering all departmental briefs, is currently missing across the political spectrum, most notably in areas of the economy where decarbonisation efforts are most urgent. In these areas, we need not just the ambition to act, but concrete plans for rapid delivery of effective policy across all policy areas.”
Peter Coombes, who Heads up Communications and Government Affairs for Standard Gas, notes: “ The good thing about Green Alliance is its independence, and that it brings together business leaders, politicians, and NGOs to examine, discuss, and offer pathways to a Green, Circular Economy in the UK. There was a lively panel Q&A after the Tracker update presentation, which focused on key challenges ranging from energy and industry decarbonisation to issues with grid infrastructure and warm homes. Frankly, these are all issues our technology can help address.”
Panel members included, Ed Miliband, Shadow Secretary of State for Climate & Energy Security, Green Alliance Executive director, Shaun Spiers, Energy UK chief executive, Emma Pinchbeck, and Greenpeace UK’s Co-Executive Director, Areeba Hamid. As part of Green Alliance’s Election Countdown programme, Ed Miliband also outlined Labour’s plans if it wins the forthcoming election.
Monitoring UK government’s climate policy since 2020, the policy tracker gauges whether planned action will meet the UK’s Net Zero targets. Updated in March last year, the UK’s Net Zero Strategy aims to keep the UK on track to meet its mandated 6th Carbon Budget (for 2033-2037) and hit Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050. Read the full tracker update here:
https://green-alliance.org.uk/publication/net-zero-policy-tracker-march-2024-update/
Panel members left to right: Green Alliance’s Shaun Spiers, Labour’s Ed Miliband, Energy UK’s Emma Pinchbeck, and Greenpeace UK’s Areeba Hamid.
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