Three major pieces of legislation expected to help facilitate the UK’s tra ...

Three major pieces of legislation expected to help facilitate the UK’s transition to a low carbon, energy secure economy have received Royal Assent. The three pieces of legislation; the Climate Change, Energy and Planning Bills will be ‘instrumental in reducing carbon emissions, removing barriers to enable industry to invest in important new infrastructure, and giving individuals and communities the incentive to use energy more efficiently and generate their own heat and energy’, according to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) Secretary, Ed Milliband. Under the Climate Change Act 2008, the UK will introduce five-yearly carbon budgets outlining how emissions reductions will be met, bring in plans on corporate reporting for businesses, and eliminate free single use carrier bags. The Energy Act 2008 underpins the development of new civil nuclear power, the expansion of renewables, and paves the way for new technologies such as carbon capture and storage, and smart meters. The Planning Act 2008 addresses energy efficiency in homes and aims to simplify planning permission for all large energy infrastructure projects. As the three Acts of Parliament went into the statute book, householders and drivers were being challenged to save energy and cut their carbon emissions under the Government’s ‘ACT ON CO2 People Power’ challenge. The challenge is to follow volunteers from Newcastle, Portsmouth and Birmingham as they attempt to reduce energy use in their daily lives, with a dedicated website tracking their progress, sharing their tips and comparing success between the three cities.