Time is running out for realistic climate commitments

The government has been too slow to follow up their historic climate promises in the past year with delivery, according to the Climate Change Committee.

The Prime Minister’s Ten-Point Plan was an important statement of ambition, but it has yet to be backed with firm policies. The CCC has argued that with every month of inaction that passes, it is harder for the UK to get on track.

As of yet, the public has not been informed or engaged in the changes that must lie ahead. However, advisers say that there is still a window to make comprehensive plans and demonstrate leadership at home and to a global audience, but the government is currently ‘taking a high-stakes gamble’ to focus everything on a new Net Zero Strategy in the autumn to achieve that.

The CCC says that it is absolutely critical that the new strategy is published before the COP26 climate summit, with clear policy plans, backed fully by the Treasury. It must be accompanied by a commitment to prepare the country for the serious climate risks facing the UK, as the next cycle of adaptation planning begins.

In two progress reports, the committee offers its appraisal of progress on the twin climate challenges: cutting emissions to Net Zero and adapting to the climate risks facing the UK.

Lockdown measures led to a record decrease in UK emissions in 2020 of 13 per cent from the previous year. The largest falls were in aviation (-60 per cent), shipping (-24 per cent) and surface transport (-18 per cent). While some of this change could persist, much is already rebounding (HGV and van travel are back to pre-pandemic levels, while car use, which at one point was down by two-thirds, is only 20 per cent below pre-pandemic levels).

The committee urges for a Net Zero Test which would ensure that all government policy, including planning decisions, is compatible with UK climate targets. It also calls for the big cross-cutting challenges of public engagement, fair funding and local delivery must be tackled.

Lord Deben, chairman of the Climate Change Committee, said: “We are in the decisive decade for tackling climate change. The government must get real on delivery. Global Britain has to prove that it can lead a global change in how we treat our planet. Get it right and UK action will echo widely. Continue to be slow and timid and the opportunity will slip from our hands. Between now and COP 26 the world will look for delivery, not promises.”