Source · Select Committees · Transport Committee
Recommendation 4
4
Not Addressed
Paragraph: 28
Respond to Climate Change Committee's recommendation on reviewing the national roads programme.
Recommendation
The Government should respond to the Climate Change Committee’s recommendation on reviewing the roads programme and explain why this recommendation will or will not be taken forward. The Climate Change Committee’s recommendations do not relate directly to the NNNPS, but acceptance of them would change the policy environment in which the NNNPS operates and, presumably, prompt further review. Obtaining clarity on this issue is important for establishing whether challenges to NSIPs on climate grounds are likely to continue.
Government Response Summary
The government's response explains how residual carbon emissions are managed within the overall strategy for meeting carbon budgets and states that text regarding refusal of consent for significant emissions has been reinstated in the NNNPS, but it does not directly address the recommendation to respond to the Climate Change Committee regarding its recommendation on reviewing the roads programme.
Paragraph Reference:
28
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
Any residual emissions that cannot be avoided in a way that is efficient and cost-effective are managed within the government’s overall strategy for meeting carbon budgets and the net zero target, as part of an economy-wide transition. This is acknowledged in paragraph 5.30 of the revised NNNPS to explain why emissions from national network infrastructure is allowable. However, for added clarity, we have reinstated text from the current NNNPS (para 5.42 of the revised NNNPS) which states that “where the increase in carbon emissions resulting from the proposed scheme are so significant that it would have a material impact on the ability of government to achieve its statutory carbon budgets, the Secretary of State should refuse consent”. This approach has been approved in caselaw, which accepts that a decision-maker may use carbon budgets as a benchmark in order to help arrive at a judgment on the significance of carbon emissions from a particular scheme, by looking at the scale of its emissions relative to the carbon budgets before reaching a judgment about the likelihood of the scheme harming the achievement of that budget.