New policies needed to reduce emissions from buildings and transport – CCC

UK emissions of greenhouse gases have fallen by an average of 4.5% per year in the last three years and are now 38% below 1990 levels, according to the latest annual report published by the Committee on Climate Change (CCC).

However, this reduction has come almost exclusively from one sector: electricity generation, where government policies have driven an increase in renewable generation and a reduction in coal use. Progress elsewhere has stalled, says the CCC. Rates of installing insulation in homes have fallen by 60–90%, take-up of low-carbon heating remains below 3% of demand and, in the past year, emissions in the transport and agriculture sectors have been rising.

The CCC is clear that policies are not in place to broaden the sources of emission reduction. Its latest Progress Report it identifies a gap of about 100mn tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) between current plans and the action required by the recommended fifth carbon budget (covering emissions in the years 2028–2032. 

Last November, the CCC advised the government to set the fifth five-year carbon budget to reduce UK greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 by 57% relative to 1990 levels; the government accepted this advice in June. The Committee welcomed the clear signal that this sends about UK ambition to continue reducing emissions into the 2030s, adding that this is particularly important given the uncertainty following the vote to leave the EU.

The government recognised the policy shortfall and committed to produce an emissions reduction plan later in the year. The CCC’s Progress Report sets out the following criteria for that plan:

• Buildings – new policy approaches are needed to decarbonise heating and improve energy efficiency, focusing on lower cost areas and overcoming behavioural barriers.
• Transport – policies should be extended through the 2020s to improve the efficiency of new vehicles and increase the uptake of low-emission vehicles.
• Carbon capture and storage – a new approach could advance this crucial technology at lower cost than previous plans, and is urgently required. The new approach should provide separate support for capture plants and for transport and storage infrastructure.
• Mature low carbon generation – the cheapest forms of low carbon electricity generation (eg onshore wind and solar in locally-acceptable locations) should be provided with a route to market.

The referendum decision to leave the EU does not alter the need to reduce UK emissions, says the CCC. The carbon budgets and the 2050 target to reduce emissions by at least 80% compared to 1990 levels are set in UK legislation – the Climate Change Act (2008) – and are designed to represent the lowest-cost path for the UK to contribute to global efforts to tackle climate change. The Act also includes a legal requirement that the government set out proposals and policies to meet the targets.