Recommendation 5

The Government has not yet defined what success will look like for the main net zero technology challenge areas and therefore lacks benchmarks with which to judge whether progress remains on track. It is vital that desired outcomes are clearly defined to enable government and Parliament to assess whether progress in the individual innovation challenge areas are on track to contribute to the UK achieving net zero. DESNZ, with other departments, has started to establish a process for monitoring progress systematically across the Framework but it has still Support for innovation to deliver net zero 7 to define what outcomes, such as carbon reductions and business opportunities, it is seeking to support. It is still too focused on what individual projects are delivering rather than the bigger picture. Without clear benchmarks it will be more difficult to judge whether the support it is providing is working and whether further action is needed. Recommendation 5: Government should define the outcomes, rather the outputs, that it is hoping to deliver from each technology in the short, medium and longer- term to enable it to benchmark progress and ensure that taxpayer support continues to be well targeted.