Select committee: Environment and Climate Change Committee
Conclusion 81
1st Report - In our hands: behaviour change for climate and environmental goals
Published 12 Oct 2022
Paragraph 386
Environment and Climate Change Committee Mobilising action on climate change and environment: behaviour change All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
A package of guidance—which we have referred to in Chapters 4, 5 and 8—would strengthen the Government’s leadership on behaviour change for climate and environmental goals, improve coordination between and consistency across departments and provide a central resource for actors on different levels, such as local authorities, civil society and businesses. The guidance should be owned by the Cabinet Office, developed closely with BEIS and Defra, and should have similar status to other manuals for policymakers, such as the Open Policy Making toolkit. The guidance should include: A toolkit for designing, delivering and evaluating policy to enable behaviour change for climate and environmental goals; A consistent framework for working with other actors—such as civil society, local authorities and businesses—in the development and delivery of policies for behaviour change to meet climate and environmental goals; Information on the machinery of Government related to behaviour change for climate and environment, including all groups and committees working in the policy area and their remits; An evaluation process for appraising the effectiveness of behaviour change interventions for climate and environmental goals; and Lessons learned from behaviour change interventions for climate and environmental goals across government.
From: Environment and Climate Change Committee, 1st Report - In our hands: behaviour change for climate and environmental goals, paragraph 386, 12 October 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 21 December 2022 (deadline 12 December 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government welcomes the committee's report and states that it has "carefully considered all the committee's conclusions and recommendations", responding mainly by pointing to existing strategies and policies, with some further action to follow.
- On the public engagement strategy sought by April 2023, the response points to the Net Zero Strategy and says a revised 25 Year Environment Plan will set out the approach to "enabling green choices, including through engagement".
- On a frequent flyer levy, the government says it "was minded to retain APD as the principal tax on the aviation sector", citing concerns about administrative complexity and data handling. It does not commit to a call for evidence.
- On Covid-19 lessons, it agrees there "may be useful lessons" and says it "will take this recommendation into consideration" as part of ongoing policy development.
- On Extended Producer Responsibility, it recognises its importance and says it will consult next year on reviewing existing producer responsibility systems. It is "considering" options for textiles.