Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 29
29
Acknowledged
In light of the Prime Minister’s confirmation at the Despatch Box to the Chair of...
Recommendation
In light of the Prime Minister’s confirmation at the Despatch Box to the Chair of this committee that he will personally drive cross-government action on climate change, we recommend that the Prime Minister directs the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to work with his counterparts in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Department for Transport to seek further contributions from their departments to the national effort to enhance the UK’s energy security and reduce energy wastage. This cross-government work on energy security should inform the new and revised Net Zero Strategy that the Government is required to publish by March 2023. We further recommend that these Departments contribute to a comprehensive update to the British Energy Security Strategy in the spring of 2023. In that update the Government should indicate its progress in reducing direct and indirect reliance on Russian imports, securing energy supplies and improving energy efficiency. (Paragraph 140) North Sea oil and gas in transition
Government Response Summary
The government says that DESNZ and DLUHC work closely together on climate change policy areas and highlights the Future Homes Standard and Building Regulations. A Transport Decarbonisation Plan exists and will be updated within 5 years.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
67. DESNZ and DLUHC work closely together on some climate change policy areas. As the department for housing policy, DLUHC has a lead role in delivering the homes this country needs, both in terms of quality and supply, and we want to see high quality, energy efficient and climate change resilient homes across all tenures. 68. The Government remains committed to meeting its target of net zero emissions by 2050 and recognises the important contribution that the energy efficiency of buildings has to make in meeting it. We must ensure that the energy efficiency standards we set through the Building Regulations for new homes and buildings put us on track to meet the 2050 target. By improving energy efficiency and using renewable energy in new buildings, we can reduce carbon emissions and improve energy security within the UK. 69. From 2025, the Future Homes Standard will ensure that new homes produce at least 75% less CO2 emissions compared to those built to the 2013 standards. These homes will have very high fabric standards and be extremely energy efficient. Similarly, the Future Buildings Standard will ensure that new non-domestic buildings are highly efficient and have the best fabric standards possible. 70. In December 2021 the Government introduced an uplift in energy efficiency standards, which came into force in June 2022. As a result, new homes are now expected to produce around 30% less CO2 emissions and new non-domestic buildings are expected to produce 27% less CO2 emissions. We expect that renewable electricity generation, such as solar panels, will be widely used to meet the new standards. 71. The Government’s world-first July 2021 Transport Decarbonisation Plan – Decarbonising Transport: A Better, Greener Britain – detailed 78 commitments setting the sector on the path to net zero by 2050, helping to meet carbon budgets and reducing reliance on fossils fuels on the way. We have committed to publishing an updated plan within five years to ensure our approach remains suitable and sufficiently ambitious and considers the latest emerging factors. 72. As the Chancellor announced in his Autumn statement, the Government will soon publish more detail about its approach to delivering energy security, consistent with achieving Net Zero by 2050.