Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 27
27
In its 2020 report Achieving net zero, the NAO stated that neither the Department nor...
Conclusion
In its 2020 report Achieving net zero, the NAO stated that neither the Department nor HM Treasury collated information on the total costs and benefits of government policies that contribute to achieving net zero.96 HM Treasury told us that costs associated with achieving the Nationally Determined Contribution (which commits the UK to reducing economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by at least 68% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels), achieving the Sixth Carbon Budget, contributing to international climate finance, and any UK commitments made at COP26 are already covered either in the current Spending Review settlement, or will be covered by future spending reviews.97 HM Treasury also told us that the Climate Change Committee produces cost estimates over much longer periods, for example 30 years, and the Office for Budgetary Responsibility produces an official estimate of the future costs of climate adaptation and mitigation in its fiscal risks report over an even longer time horizon of 50 years.98 However, HM Treasury cautioned that such estimates contain ‘heroic assumptions’ with errors compounding over potentially very long periods.99 It concluded in its Net Zero Review that costs and benefits will not fall 88 HM Treasury, Net Zero Review Final Report, October 2021, para 2.33 89 IFRS, IFRS Foundation announces International Sustainability Standards Board, consolidation with CDSB and VRF, and publication of prototype disclosure requirements 90 Qq 109–110 91 Net Zero Strategy, page 254, para 30 92 Q 62 93 Q 63 94 Q 64–65 95 Net Zero Strategy, page 254, para 30 96 Q 70; C&AG’s Report, para 17 97 Qq 87–92; UK Government, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s Nationally Determined Contribution, 2020 98 Qq 95–96, 105–107 99 Q 95, 97 18 Achieving Net Zero: Follow up evenly, but that it was impossible to forecast how individual households would be affected over the thirty-year transition given consumer costs would be driven by factors including incomes, prefer
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
1.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 1.2 The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (the department) and HM Treasury will write to the Committee by Autumn 2022 setting out the processes for reporting the implementation of the government’s net zero policies, including to Parliament. This will include reiterating the clear performance metrics we have already committed to report against publicly, and a summary of the internal reporting governance in place to ensure net zero by 2050 remains on track. 1.3 The Net Zero Strategy sets out policies and proposals for decarbonising all sectors of the UK economy to meet our net zero target by 2050. As set out in the Strategy, the government has committed to providing a public update on our implementation progress every year beginning from 2022, which will include: • Progress against a set of at least 24 clear ambitions and targets across different sectors of the economy – a list that will build over time to incorporate additional Government targets and wider non-government indicators of progress. • Commentary on contextual changes that might affect the exact pathway to meeting the government’s decarbonisation commitments. • A summary of key areas of progress made against the policies and proposals in this Strategy. 1.4 The annual public report on implementation progress is a new commitment, which lays the groundwork for future reporting, and one which the government is focused on getting right. The government does not think that it is appropriate to commit to publishing additional specific performance metrics now but, in future, the government will consider what additional metrics and reporting might be needed. The government is grateful to the Committee for its continued input as these take shape. 1.5 The government has set out how tax relates to environmental goals in the Net Zero Review and the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution.