‘A politically-motivated review of the UK’s carbon budgets in 2014&r ...

‘A politically-motivated review of the UK’s carbon budgets in 2014’ - announced by the UK government - ‘is undermining certainty in the future direction of climate policy,’ Parliament’s ‘green watchdog’ has warned. A new report by the Environmental Audit Committee welcomes the government’s decision to set the fourth carbon budget - required under the Climate Change Act - at the level recommended by the independent Committee on Climate Change, but it questions the decision to announce a review of this budget in 2014 in response to fears that it could be bad for business. The MPs warn that the prospect of a review could ‘weaken investor confidence in low-carbon industries as it creates uncertainty about the future trajectory of emissions reductions’. In setting the fourth carbon budget, the government announced that it would bring forward a package of measures to help energy intensive industries most at risk of so-called ‘carbon leakage’. There should be a robust sector-by-sector assessment of whether jobs and production could be displaced by the UK’s carbon budgets. Any assistance offered by Ministers must be based on hard evidence and retain a strong incentive to reduce emissions. The 2014 review could ease the budget if the UK’s emissions reduction trajectory is steeper than that required by the EU’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). However, the Committee on Climate Change has noted that its recommended carbon budgets should be regarded as an ‘absolute minimum’ - less ambitious budgets would make the UK’s 2050 climate change targets harder and more costly to achieve. Zac Goldsmith MP, a member of the Environmental Audit Committee, said: ‘The one risk that all investors highlight when they consider putting funds into clean technology is policy change. It is therefore absolutely crucial that policymakers recognise that with the stroke of a pen, they can make a good investment bad. Unless they provide real long-term certainty, the transition to a low carbon economy will be slower and bumpier than it needs to be.’ The Committee strongly supports mandatory emissions reporting by business in order to aid transparency and illustrate the contributions that companies are making, and need to make, to help tackle climate change. The report also criticises Ministers for dropping plans to require government departments and local authorities to budget for the carbon emissions produced by their policies and operations.