Committee on Climate Change Report. Net Zero – The UK’s contribution to stopping global warming

As you will probably know yesterday the Committee on Climate Change released a net zero report, which set out plans for the UK to stop its contribution to global warming by 2050. The report provides advice on when and how the UK should reach net-zero emissions and it is likely to influence policymaking for years to come across all spheres of the economy.

A net-zero GHG target for 2050 will deliver on the commitment that the UK made by signing the Paris Agreement and the report outlines that this target is achievable with known technologies, alongside improvements in people’s lives, and within the expected economic cost that Parliament accepted when it legislated the existing 2050 target for an 80% reduction from 1990.

In the context of local authorities, a key point made within the report is that clear leadership is needed right across all levels of government, with delivery in partnership with businesses and communities. Emissions reduction must be central to the whole of government and to every level of government in the UK. Policies must be fully funded and implemented coherently across all sectors of the economy to drive the necessary innovation, market development and consumer take-up of low-carbon technologies and to positively influence societal change.

The report makes clear that local authorities have important roles on transport planning, including providing high-quality infrastructure for walking and cycling, provision of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, and ensuring that new housing developments are designed to the highest standards and are accessible for public transport. Councils can improve health outcomes for people who live and work in the area by implementing clean-air zones that discourage the use of polluting vehicles and other technologies. There are lots more examples.

This report comes at the time when a number of local authorities are declaring Climate Emergencies and setting carbon neutrality targets for their council and/or their localities. It is true that local authorities are leaders within their communities and they are experts at doing the right thing as they understand the needs and opportunities in their local area. APSE Energy sees local authority leadership as central to achieving the necessary emissions reductions laid out in this new report. Many councils are already making great strides towards achieving their targets and focusing on renewable energy generation, energy efficiency measures, behaviour change and many more areas related to the energy agenda.  It is vital that this work is accelerated and proliferated across all areas of local and national government.

Some have raised the question of availability of sufficient resources – ambitious targets will not be met without adequate resources. National government needs to lead the way in this regard working with local government to make sure the latter ensures action on the ground. Political will at the national and local level will be fundamental to ensuring supply chains are supported and existing technologies have a route to market.