Credit: iStock
Environmental Audit Committee says government could run out of Parliamentary time for several key, delayed pieces of net zero policy ahead of general election
The sluggish pace of progress and clarity in several key outstanding areas of the government's net zero agenda opens up "clear risks" of crucial policies being left incomplete, delayed and potentially derailed altogether as a result of the UK's looming General Election, MPs have warned.
Parliament's Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) today expressed disappointment that several of its policy recommendations for building a net zero financial sector, setting and end date for new oil and gas drilling licenses, and unlocking much needed private investment in support of the UK's transition have been rejected by the government.
Moreover, while it highlighted welcome policy progress in some areas - such as on carbon markets and fresh clean heating funding and - it warned that various ongoing policy and strategy delays and outstanding consultation responses meant there was a risk of limited progress being made on key issues ahead of the upcoming election, which could deliver a change of government and policy.
With the government legally obliged to hold a General Election before the end of January next year, the current Parliamentary term is nearing, meaning that even promises the government has made to implement policy informed by ongoing consultations could run out of time, the EAC said.
In particular, it pointed out that promised consultations over the design and implementation of requirements for financial firms to develop net zero transition plans, and for a UK 'green taxonomy' stipulating what should count as a 'green' investment, are still being awaited and are long-overdue.
The government had also previously planned to publish an investment roadmap for nature in autumn last year, but this has now been pushed back to the end of 2024, prompting concerns from MPs on the Committee that it risks being delayed or derailed altogether by an election this year.
Conservative MP Philip Dunne, the EAC's chair, warned that the government was not moving fast enough nor engaging sufficiently on key green policies, such as transition plan requirements and the green taxonomy, which risked further undermining the UK's ability to attract green investment.
"The UK is a global leader in efforts to embed environmental improvements into finance and across the wider economy," he said. "But this is no time for any complacency: the Committee warned in November that mixed signals from government in terms of net zero policy risked undermining further progress."
Dunne said there was "plenty the government can be doing to enhance the UK's net zero standing" and to provide greater policy clarity to secure much needed net zero investment, but that key issues surrounding transition plans and the proposed green taxonomy still appeared to be far from reaching resolution.
"So much of the journey to net zero Britain hinges on the private sector playing a key part and the government must be clear and unwavering in setting out the roadmaps for achieving its environmental objectives," he argued.
It follows a report by the EAC in November last year which made a host of recommendations to the government on harnessing the UK's financial sector to support the net zero transition. These recommendations included making transition plans mandatory for financial firms - rather than the government's currently preferred 'comply or explain why not' approach - and to "send clear signals to market" by setting an end date for new oil and gas drilling licenses in the North Sea.
The EAC had also recommended the government introduce quarterly reporting on its progress towards meeting net zero goals while enhancing energy security when it rolls our new oil and gas licenses in the North Sea, without which it said the UK risked sending "mixed signals" to investors about the future of the country's fossil fuel sector.
However, the government's response today declined to take these recommendations forward.
"We have already considered fixing an end date for future oil and gas licensing and decided not to pursue this approach," it said. "A 2021 review of the future of oil and gas licensing concluded that continued licensing for oil and gas is not inherently incompatible with the UK's climate objectives."
The government added: "New licensing simply slows the fall in UK supply, rather than increasing simply above current levels, it said of North Sea oil and gas. This ensures a managed decline at a pace that supports the UK's energy security and the offshore workforce's transition away from fossil fuels. The expected emissions from potential future projects are factored into the UK's carbon budgets and will not compromise them being met."
Elsewhere, the EAC welcomed the government's decision to increase funding allocated to the Boiler Upgrade Scheme that provides grants to householders to switch to clean heating such as heat pumps. It also welcomed confirmation today that the government plans to hold consultations on potential regulations for the voluntary carbon market as well as on the introduction of carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) in the UK in early 2024.
But Dunne said despite these positive moves he was "concerned about timescales slipping" and that "there are clear risks to making meaningful policy progress arising from outstanding government consultations due to a looming General Election".
"This ought to concentrate minds in the Treasury and across Whitehall: to keep the UK as the global green finance leader it currently is," said Dunne.
Want to understand what is going on at the cutting edge of sustainability? Check out BusinessGreen Intelligence - the premier information for professionals focused on the UK's green economy.
