Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 15
15
Limiting global temperature rises to reduce the climate change impacts will require a global reduction...
Conclusion
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
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
4: PAC conclusion: Government does not have a clear way of determining whether its actions to reduce emissions in the UK are transferring emissions to other countries. 4: PAC 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. 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Winter 2021 4. 2 BEIS is jointly leading a cross-government work programme with HMT on the issue set out in this re commendation (often referred to as ‘carbon leakage’). This includes developing an analytical framework to consider the risk and potential impact of carbon leakage and assessing the range of mitigation measures av ailable. 4. 3 The recently published Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy sets out government's current approach to mitigating carbon leakage and includes a commitment to establish a targeted approach to mitigating ind ustry’s leakage risk throughout the journey to net zero as the UK’s emissions reduction policies become m ore ambitious. HMT will be publishing more analysis on risks and possible mitigation options in the up coming Net Zero Review. 4. 4 The department will also be reviewing ‘free allocation’ policy as part of a wider review into the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) now that it has been set up. This review will focus on how free allocations can be distributed more fairly or better targeted in line with a reduction to the overall cap. The department currently has a call for evidence open that is part of this review. 4.5 Regarding transparency, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) publishes estimates of the emissions associated with final demand in the UK irrespective of where these arise globally (UK-Carbon-footprint). BEIS will continue to engage with Defra and researchers who provide these statistics to explore opportunities to provide more transparency. 4.6 The Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy commits to developing proposals to improve embodied emissions data transparency and for new product standards to support the development of the market for low carbon industrial products. A call for evidence will be launched on low carbon industrial products in 2021- 22.