Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 6
6
Accepted
Paragraph: 56
Publish quarterly reports on UK energy independence, net zero progress, and scope three emissions.
Recommendation
We recommend that the Government publish quarterly reports to show how the UK is moving towards greater energy independence while staying on track to meet its net zero target, including an assessment of the effect of scope three emissions on global efforts to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C. The notion of “energy security” should increasingly shift towards renewable energy, which can support greater energy independence and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
Government Response Summary
The government does not commit to publishing new quarterly reports, stating it already provides extensive detail on net zero and energy security progress through various annual and biennial reporting mechanisms, including updates on climate targets and net carbon accounts.
Paragraph Reference:
56
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
Over the past two years the Government has set out unprecedented levels of detail in our plans to reach net zero and energy security objectives through the Net Zero Strategy in 2021 and Powering Up Britain in 2023. As part of the Net Zero Strategy, we committed to provide a public update on progress against a range of our climate targets and ambitions including low carbon power generation. We update on these figures annually. The share of electricity generation in the UK that was generated from renewables was nearly 45% in Q3 2023, up from around 7% in 2010. In accordance with the Climate Change Act 2008 (CCA), the UK has also set six carbon budgets out to 2037, which act as interim targets towards the UK achieving Net Zero by 2050. The UK publishes its net carbon account annually, regularly tracking progress against its multi-year budgets and ensuring a high level of accountability. This is in addition to final statements after the end of each carbon budget period. The UK has over-achieved against the first and second carbon budgets, and the latest projections show that we are on track to meet the third. We also provide a detailed annual response to the Climate Change Committee’s Progress Reports, a statutory duty which is publicly available. The latest in October 2023 contained updates on performance of 28 metrics. Internationally, we have also committed to a 2030 NDC target under the Paris Agreement and reporting under the Paris Agreement begins in 2024. We report every two years to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on progress towards our international targets, and the UK also undergoes scrutiny on transparency of reporting through the International Assessment and Review process every two years.