Recommendation 24

The Department told us consumption emissions are more difficult to measure than territorial emissions, the latter being the standard approach of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).85 The Department told us that it intends to use product standards and carbon adjustment mechanisms at the border as long- term levers to prevent carbon leakage.86 In its Strategy, government stated its intentions to launch a call for evidence on consumer-focused demand-side low-carbon products as a first step to address issues on product standards by Spring 2022.87 HM Treasury’s Net Zero 78 Qq 42–43; Net Zero Strategy, pages 284, 285 paras 2 and 7 79 Q 2; UK Government Minister meets with energy firm over Cambo - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 80 Q 28; OGUK 81 Committee of Public Accounts, Achieving Net Zero, Forty-Sixth Report of Session 2019 - 21, HC 935, 5 March 2021 82 Q 112; Net Zero Strategy, page 122 para 9 83 Qq 33, 37; Defra, UK’s Carbon Footprint 1997 - 2018 84 Defra, UK’s Carbon Footprint 1997 – 2018; Note dated 15 November 2021 from Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy para 2 85 Qq 33–34 86 Q 37 87 Qq 37–38; Net Zero Strategy, page 131 para 61 Achieving Net Zero: Follow up 17 Review also concluded that carbon leakage was an area where it too needed to do further work.88 On 3 November the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation (IFRS) announced ‘prototype’ climate sustainability disclosure requirements.89 HM Treasury told us that government would consider how these will be interpreted for the public sector, but was unable to give us a timeframe for their application.90 Reporting progress and costs