Comment: The Seventh Carbon Budget

“Ice sheets melting, severe weather events, worsening pollution – we need to wake up to the harsh realities of manmade climate change. Our transition to a cleaner future isn’t a quick or easy fix. Some technological advances in development now will aid in the transition, but we cannot rely on mythical ‘silver bullets’ which allow us to put off the hard choices we need to make to mitigate and adapt to the changing climate. I welcome the Climate Change Committee’s forensic analysis of the current position, and its advice on the steps to take to ensure that goals for reducing the UK’s emissions are met.

“The Climate Change Committee’s recommendations go to the heart of the Government’s growth agenda: there is enormous potential in the areas it has identified for improvement of the environment. Ministers must not be afraid to take the giant leaps suggested.”

Aviation

“Aviation emissions continue to be hard to mitigate, and the Government clearly has a lot of work to do to boost the take-up of sustainable aviation fuels from the current mandate of 2% to the recommended 17% by 2040. Our predecessor Committee urged clear definitions of SAF, insisted on measures for the SAF produced in the UK to be truly sustainable, and demanded unremitting focus on the aviation industry’s ambitious decarbonisation plans. I would like to see an ironclad guarantee for how total aviation emissions will be brought within carbon budget limits before spades go into the ground at the UK airports where capacity is to be increased.”

Heat pumps

“The Climate Change Committee’s ambition to have heat pumps in half of existing UK homes by 2040 represents a significant increase on advice for previous carbon budgets. It also represents a huge opportunity: we have heard just this week about the thriving net zero economy in the UK, and the expansion in green jobs associated with low carbon heating installations will contribute to this. This opportunity can be further realised by ensuring the 1.5 million homes that the Government has pledged to be built in the next five years are, wherever possible, heated and cooled with heat pump technology.”

Nature

“I am pleased to see the Climate Change Committee dedicate space to nature in its report: meeting net zero and protecting nature go hand in glove and this understanding must be seen in all policymaking. Nature-based solutions can be used to lock in damaging greenhouse gas emissions, capturing carbon in the most effective way without the necessity of building expensive carbon capture facilities. Proposals to increase the amount of land given over to woodland and peatlands in England will nevertheless raise questions over the allocation of land to different purposes. The Government needs to find a way to answer these questions: so I look forward to seeing the Government’s response to its recent consultation on a Land Use Strategy for England.”

Legislation and Parliamentary scrutiny

“It is no secret that international aviation and shipping emissions are tricky areas to get under control. It makes it even more critical that Parliament legislate to bring the UK’s share of these emissions within future carbon budgets.

“In the autumn Ministers will ask Parliament to vote on a legally binding figure for the UK’s emissions in the period from 2038 to 2042. The challenge for Government will be to explain to both Houses, in advance of these decisions, the measures it plans to put in place to make sure that this target can be met.”

Further information

• About Parliament: Select committees
• Visiting Parliament: Watch committees

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