Recommendations & Conclusions
13 items
2
Recommendation
Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net Zero
Accepted
The Department is not yet reporting on the programmes across government that are crucial to the delivery of net zero in a way that enables Parliament or the public to scrutinise progress. In early 2019, government established new arrangements for coordinating the departments involved in achieving net zero. The Department …
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The Department is not yet reporting on the programmes across government that are crucial to the delivery of net zero in a way that enables Parliament or the public to scrutinise progress. In early 2019, government established new arrangements for coordinating the departments involved in achieving net zero. The Department has overall responsibility for achieving net zero and for ensuring cross-government arrangements are working effectively and that departments are reducing emissions over time towards achieving net zero. But there is no single place where information is brought together about the overall progress of key net zero policies, or a clear set of measures which can be consistently used to judge progress. This limits the Department’s ability to identify potential issues with achieving net zero and take corrective action if necessary. The Department is working with the Climate Change Committee to develop new measures of progress that are more straightforward to understand, which it expects could be used both for monitoring as well as in public communication of progress towards net zero. The Department must publish its plans and targets for all sectors and make clear to the public how government actions, such as the recent decision not to intervene over the local granting of planning permission to a coal mine in Cumbria, are consistent with its trajectory to net zero. Otherwise, government runs the risk of sending the wrong messages to the public about its commitment to this goal. Recommendation: The Department should develop a clear set of metrics that provide a system-wide view of progress towards net zero. These metrics, which should include reporting on progress of emissions levels compared to expectations within each sector, should be reported regularly from the end of 2021, in as close to real time as is feasible and produced in a user-friendly manner for the public. 6 Achieving Net Zero
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees and will set out in more detail the metrics it will track towards net zero as part of its comprehensive Net Zero Strategy by Winter 2021, building on existing annual projections.
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HM Treasury
4
Recommendation
Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net Zero
Accepted
Government does not have a clear way of determining whether its actions to reduce emissions in the UK are transferring emissions to other countries. The net zero target applies to emissions generated within the UK and does not include emissions from the production of goods that are imported. This approach …
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Government does not have a clear way of determining whether its actions to reduce emissions in the UK are transferring emissions to other countries. The net zero target applies to emissions generated within the UK and does not include emissions from the production of goods that are imported. This approach aligns with internationally agreed rules to prevent double counting of emissions. It is critical that actions to reduce the UK’s emissions do not result in simply moving them abroad, which would undermine global efforts to limit temperature rises. This could happen, for example, if UK policies push high-emitting industries (such as some manufacturing) abroad rather than ensuring those industries become carbon neutral. HM Treasury considers that this risk is lessened as other countries reduce their own emissions. But if the UK decarbonises more quickly than other countries (particularly countries it imports from), there will be a risk in the short term that policies to reduce emissions transfers them abroad instead. Recommendation: The Department should review how policies aimed at reducing UK-based emissions take into account the risk that emissions are passed to other countries and explore how to make the level of emissions generated in the manufacture of imported goods more transparent.
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Government response AI summary
The government accepts the recommendation and commits to a cross-government work programme on carbon leakage, further analysis in the Net Zero Review, a review of the UK ETS, and developing proposals for embodied emissions data transparency with a future call for evidence.
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HM Treasury
5
Recommendation
Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net Zero
Accepted
Government has not adequately communicated to the general public the changes that individuals will need to make in the transition to net zero emissions. Achieving Net Zero 7 Achieving net zero will depend on individuals choosing to change their behaviour, from personal lifestyle choices, as well as decisions that rely …
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Government has not adequately communicated to the general public the changes that individuals will need to make in the transition to net zero emissions. Achieving Net Zero 7 Achieving net zero will depend on individuals choosing to change their behaviour, from personal lifestyle choices, as well as decisions that rely to some degree on related technological developments such as buying an electric car or changing how they heat their homes. The Climate Change Committee estimated in 2019 that 62% of remaining emissions reductions will rely to some degree on individual choices and behaviours. But there is a disconnect between people’s concern about climate change and their understanding of what is required to achieve emissions reductions in the UK. There has so far been no coordinated government messaging about the changes and choices people will need to make. A key challenge will be engaging with, and supporting, those who are currently employed in sectors that will either decline as part of the transition to net zero, such as oil and gas extraction, or will need to significantly change, such as mechanics who must transition to working primarily on electric vehicles. Supporting these people could be complementary to the ‘levelling up’ agenda whereby Government aims to create opportunity for everyone in all regions and address disparities in economic and social outcomes. The Department established a public engagement team to begin work in April 2020 but accepts that it needs to do more on its communication with the public. Recommendation: The Department should, in the next 12 months, develop a public engagement strategy that sets out how communications will be coordinated.
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees and plans to set out more detail on its approach to public engagement on net zero, including communication coordination, as part of the forthcoming Net Zero Strategy by Autumn 2021.
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HM Treasury
6
Recommendation
Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net Zero
Accepted
The Department has not sufficiently engaged with local authorities on their role in the achievement of net zero across the UK. Local authorities have significant scope to influence emissions in their area, both by leading decarbonisation of sectors (such as housing and transport) and by influencing local businesses and residents …
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The Department has not sufficiently engaged with local authorities on their role in the achievement of net zero across the UK. Local authorities have significant scope to influence emissions in their area, both by leading decarbonisation of sectors (such as housing and transport) and by influencing local businesses and residents to take climate action themselves. However, local government representatives report a lack of clarity from central government on the role local authorities should play in achieving net zero, what will be expected of them or how they will be supported. The Local Government Association’s Climate Change Survey 2020 found that nine out of 10 councils have declared a climate emergency and 80% have set a carbon neutral target. But local authorities face a wide range of barriers to tackling climate change. Ninety-six per cent of local authorities report that funding is a barrier to them tackling climate change, and 93% that legislation or regulation is a barrier. Lack of workforce capacity or a lack of skills is also a cause for concern, with 88% and 78% of local authorities in the survey respectively reporting this as a barrier to tackling climate change. Recommendation: Government should respond with a coherent National Fiscal and Policy Framework. This should set out Government’s national responsibilities. Local Authorities local and regional responsibilities and be clear how government proposes to work with local authorities to secure the funding, skills, resources and outcomes required to deliver Net Zero. 8 Achieving Net Zero 1 Net zero plans and progress
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees and will provide a clearer statement of national, regional, and local responsibilities and how it will work with local authorities to deliver Net Zero, as part of the Net Zero Strategy by Autumn 2021.
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HM Treasury
7
Conclusion
Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net Zero
Accepted
The government originally planned to publish many of its strategies during 2020. Publication was later than it previously intended, partly because of reprioritisation of Government activity in response to the coronavirus crisis.9 For example, the publication of the Heat and Buildings strategy was delayed from August 2020 and is yet …
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The government originally planned to publish many of its strategies during 2020. Publication was later than it previously intended, partly because of reprioritisation of Government activity in response to the coronavirus crisis.9 For example, the publication of the Heat and Buildings strategy was delayed from August 2020 and is yet to be published. Publication of the Fuel Poverty strategy was similarly delayed from April 2020 and did not publish until to February 2021.10 The Department told us that it would like to have published many of the sector strategies months earlier than they were likely to be published. It asserted that it was now in a good place to publish them and expected the strategies to be stronger as a result of the delay and would reflect a greater degree of political commitment. It accepted that the strategies would need to be clear, and provide detail, about the policies, timing and process that underpinned them. It told us that this particularly applied for high-emitting sectors including buildings, transport and industry. We asked the Department when the strategies were now due to be published and to provide a publication programme for the next 12 months. The Department would not provide details of the months that it planned to publish the individual strategies, asserting that it would ‘put them out at the right time, when they are ready’. It told us it expected the Heat and Building strategy and the fuel poverty strategy very soon, followed by the industrial decarbonisation, hydrogen and transport strategies. It expected to publish the 5 Q 8; C&AG’s Report, para 1, 1-2-1.4 6 Q 6; GOV.UK, Press release, UK sets ambitious new climate target head of UN Summit, 3 December 2020 7 Q 7; C&AG’s Report, para 1.10; Climate Change Committee, The Sixth Carbon Budget, The UK’s path to net zero, December 2020, page 13 8 Qq 6-8; C&AG’s Report, paras 6-7, 3.26 9 Q 18; C&AG’s Report, para 3.2, Figure 9 10 C&AG’s Report, Figure 9; Department for Business, Energy
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees, stating it is making progress on sector strategies and will publish a comprehensive Net Zero Strategy, bringing all plans together, ahead of COP26 in Autumn 2021.
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HM Treasury
12
Conclusion
Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net Zero
Accepted
The Treasury’s Green Book guidance requires all policy, programme and project proposals to consider environment and climate impacts, including UK greenhouse gas emissions. The Department noted that this was another means by which the compatibility of departments’ decisions with net zero could be taken into account.20 HM Treasury has recently …
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The Treasury’s Green Book guidance requires all policy, programme and project proposals to consider environment and climate impacts, including UK greenhouse gas emissions. The Department noted that this was another means by which the compatibility of departments’ decisions with net zero could be taken into account.20 HM Treasury has recently reviewed the Green Book guidance, due to concerns that the guidance may undermine the Government’s aim to “level up” poorer parts of the UK. The updated Green Book emphasises the importance of demonstrating the fit of a proposed intervention with government’s strategic objectives, such as net zero, and highlighting whether it supports or conflicts with them.21 The Treasury told us that departments, in line with Green Book guidance, should be considering the impact of policies on wider strategic objectives, such as net zero, even if policies were not directly related to climate change.22 16 Qq 5-6, 36 17 Qq 23, 29 18 C&AG’s Report, para 3, 2.11 19 Q 31-33, 36; C&AG’s Report para 10, 2.11 20 Q 32; C&AG’s Report para 2.12 21 HM Treasury, Green Book Review 2020: Findings and response, Box 2.A, para 1.3, 3.5 22 Qq 54, 64 12 Achieving Net Zero
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees, noting that Spending Review 2020 guidance required departments to include greenhouse gas emissions in bids, and HMT is reviewing this learning, keeping these issues as a priority for 2021.
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HM Treasury
15
Conclusion
Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net Zero
Accepted
Limiting global temperature rises to reduce the climate change impacts will require a global reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The net zero target applies to emissions generated in the UK and does not include emissions generated in the production of goods imported into the UK. This is consistent with internationally-agreed …
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Limiting global temperature rises to reduce the climate change impacts will require a global reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The net zero target applies to emissions generated in the UK and does not include emissions generated in the production of goods imported into the UK. This is consistent with internationally-agreed rules around climate change targets to prevent double counting of emissions.27 We asked about the potential risk that if Government policies reduce emissions in the UK but at the expense of higher emissions abroad then the UK’s progress towards net zero could mask the fact that global emissions are not reducing.28 The CCC found that the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions were 69% higher in 2016 if emissions generated in imports were included and that imported emissions have risen as a fraction of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions. This, it reported, reflected the UK’s progress in reducing emissions domestically and that the UK imports energy-intensive industrial products like steel. The CCC also emphasised the importance of government prioritising actions that reduce both UK-generated emissions and imported emissions, such as increasing energy efficiency and reducing waste.29
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the implied recommendation on carbon leakage, stating it is jointly leading a cross-government work programme, developing an analytical framework, and will explore opportunities to provide more transparency on imported emissions by Winter 2021, with further proposals and a call for evidence …
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HM Treasury
16
Recommendation
Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net Zero
Accepted
We asked how the Department would ensure that the impact of the UK’s progress towards net zero would not inadvertently result in higher emissions elsewhere. The 23 Q 45 24 Q 62 25 Q 54; C&AG’s Report, para 2.13 26 Qq 32 & 62 27 C&AG’s report, para 1.2; Climate …
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We asked how the Department would ensure that the impact of the UK’s progress towards net zero would not inadvertently result in higher emissions elsewhere. The 23 Q 45 24 Q 62 25 Q 54; C&AG’s Report, para 2.13 26 Qq 32 & 62 27 C&AG’s report, para 1.2; Climate Change Committee, Net Zero, 2019, pp 47, 105 28 Q 20 29 Climate Change Committee, Net Zero, 2019, pp 47, 104, 105 Achieving Net Zero 13 Department told us that, so far, reductions in the UK’s emissions had been the result of real change, particularly in the power and industrial sectors, and not the result of pushing emissions abroad, but that it was monitoring this. HM Treasury similarly told us that as other countries decarbonise, imports from those countries will have less embedded carbon and so the risk of pushing emissions abroad would be reduced. The Department told us that emissions generated in imports were difficult to estimate, which is why it was not used as an overall target. It noted that preventing the export of emissions in general relied on careful policy design. For example, regulating the carbon make-up of products on the market, rather than solely regulating how goods are made in this country.30
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and is leading a cross-government work programme with HMT to develop an analytical framework and assess mitigation measures for carbon leakage. It will also explore opportunities to improve transparency of imported emissions data and develop proposals for product standards …
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HM Treasury
17
Conclusion
Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net Zero
Accepted
We asked about the feasibility of a tax based on carbon embedded in imports (a carbon border adjustment tax) to reduce the risk of pushing emissions abroad. The Treasury told us that it was considering this as part of its net zero review. It explained that it needed to further …
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We asked about the feasibility of a tax based on carbon embedded in imports (a carbon border adjustment tax) to reduce the risk of pushing emissions abroad. The Treasury told us that it was considering this as part of its net zero review. It explained that it needed to further investigate the proposal, particularly whether it would be effective in maintaining UK jobs and facilitating decarbonisation in the Global South, how it could be implemented and whether it would comply with World Trade Organisation rules. It explained that the European Commission was considering a carbon border adjustment tax and it expected to learn from this about how the UK could tackle the issue of imported carbon in future.31 30 Qq 20-21 31 Qq 21-22 14 Achieving Net Zero 2 Wider engagement Engaging with the general public
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the implied recommendation to address carbon leakage, stating it is jointly leading a work programme with HMT, developing an analytical framework, and will explore opportunities for greater transparency, with further proposals and a call for evidence planned for 2021-22.
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HM Treasury
18
Conclusion
Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net Zero
Accepted
Achieving net zero will depend on people changing their habits and lifestyles, adopting new technologies, and in some cases big personal investments. For example, buying zero- emission vehicles, such as electric vehicles, instead of cars that run on petrol or diesel; changing the way they heat their homes by replacing …
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Achieving net zero will depend on people changing their habits and lifestyles, adopting new technologies, and in some cases big personal investments. For example, buying zero- emission vehicles, such as electric vehicles, instead of cars that run on petrol or diesel; changing the way they heat their homes by replacing domestic gas boilers with renewable alternatives, such as electric heat pumps; and lifestyle changes such as consuming fewer meat and dairy products. The Climate Change Committee (CCC) estimated in 2019 that 62% of the remaining emissions reductions will happen either through individual choices and behaviours, some of which will require the development of new technologies. But it also found that there was a disconnect between people’s concern about climate change and their understanding of what is required to achieve emissions reductions in the UK.32
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the recommendation to develop a public engagement strategy within the next 12 months, stating it plans to set out more detail on its approach, including coordinated communications, as part of the forthcoming Net Zero Strategy by Autumn 2021.
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HM Treasury
19
Recommendation
Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net Zero
Accepted
We asked the Department what it was doing to ensure the step change needed by members of the public to achieve net zero and how it was communicating to people about the decisions or changes they needed to make and when. The Department told us that so far, a lot …
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We asked the Department what it was doing to ensure the step change needed by members of the public to achieve net zero and how it was communicating to people about the decisions or changes they needed to make and when. The Department told us that so far, a lot of the changes to reduce emissions reductions have not required major behavioural change, but many of those that will be needed in the future will do. It explained that, where possible, it would look for solutions that did not require “excessively drastic behaviour change” which was why initiatives such as electric vehicles were so important. In April 2020, the Department established a behaviour change and public engagement team for net zero to begin designing a public engagement strategy and share good practice across government. The Department accepted, however, that it was not yet providing an integrated picture of public engagement and that there was more work it needed to do to address this gap in 2021.33 It told us that it would be important to ensure that its public engagement strategy was sufficiently broad to allow the public to understand the wider context of its communications and messages. For example, it explained that it would be important to enable people to understand the continuing importance in the short term of high-emitting industries, such as coal, oil and gas, and their role in employment and the resilience of the energy system.34
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and plans to develop a public engagement strategy that coordinates communications, with a target implementation date of Autumn 2021, and will set out more detail as part of the forthcoming Net Zero Strategy.
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HM Treasury
21
Recommendation
Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net Zero
Accepted
Local authorities have a key role to play in achieving net zero. They have significant scope to influence emissions in their area, for example, by leading decarbonisation of sectors such as housing and transport. These represent a substantial proportion of UK emissions, and where the emissions reduction challenge will vary …
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Local authorities have a key role to play in achieving net zero. They have significant scope to influence emissions in their area, for example, by leading decarbonisation of sectors such as housing and transport. These represent a substantial proportion of UK emissions, and where the emissions reduction challenge will vary by location. Local authorities can also influence local businesses and residents to take climate action themselves. The NAO found that government’s co-ordination arrangements for net zero only extended to central government departments.37 We received written evidence from the Local Government Association (LGA), which told us that the Government needed to outline national and local government responsibilities and commit to working with local government bodies to deliver net zero. It also told us that there needed to be an engagement process between central and local government to support councils to develop local net zero delivery plans and invest in green solutions.38 The Department agreed that local authorities were very important partners in delivering decarbonisation schemes such as the green homes grant and the local authority delivery scheme. It also recognised that local authorities had a lot of the planning capabilities and statutory duties which would be very important for example, when thinking about investment in heat networks. It accepted that it would be increasingly important to engage with local authorities.39
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Government response AI summary
The government accepts the recommendation, agreeing there should be a clearer statement of national, regional, and local responsibilities and how it will work with local authorities, to be provided in the forthcoming Net Zero Strategy.
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HM Treasury
22
Recommendation
Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net Zero
Accepted
In written evidence, the LGA told us that there was a long-term funding gap in government’s ambitions to decarbonise housing. In February 2020, the LGA’s Climate Change Survey 2020 found that nine out of 10 councils had declared a climate emergency and 80% had set a carbon neutral target.40 But …
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In written evidence, the LGA told us that there was a long-term funding gap in government’s ambitions to decarbonise housing. In February 2020, the LGA’s Climate Change Survey 2020 found that nine out of 10 councils had declared a climate emergency and 80% had set a carbon neutral target.40 But the survey found that local authorities faced numerous barriers to tackling climate change. Ninety-six per cent of respondents reported that funding was a barrier to their local authority tackling climate change, and 93% that legislation or regulation was a barrier. Lack of workforce capacity or a lack of skills was also a cause for concern, with 88% and 78% of local authorities in the survey respectively reporting this as a barrier to tackling climate change. Respondents who noted legislation or regulation as a barrier highlighted a range of issues including building regulations not being environmentally rigorous and that the National Planning Policy Framework or planning regulations were insufficiently ambitious.41
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and will provide a more comprehensive statement on national, regional, and local responsibilities, and how it proposes to work with local authorities to deliver Net Zero, as part of the forthcoming Net Zero Strategy by Autumn 2021.
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HM Treasury