Committee on Climate Change report - BEIS Committee Chair urges Government to take the initiative

Rachel Reeves, Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, has commented on the new report published today by the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), which says the Government must learn the lessons of the last decade if it is to meet legally-binding targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the 2020s and 2030s.

Rachel Reeves, Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee said: “The Government must listen to the warnings sounded by the CCC today and urgently put in place the measures needed to reduce our carbon emissions and meet the UK’s legally-binding targets.

“In November, the Minister confidently told the BEIS Committee that the UK has a 100 per cent chance of meeting its targets. Six months on, the Government has failed to spell out its plans for the 4^th and 5^th Carbon Budgets. The Road to Zero strategy still hasn’t arrived. Progress has stalled. The Government needs to come clean – is it dedicated to meeting climate change targets or is climate change policy another casualty of its focus on Brexit?

“The Government needs to take the initiative and have the courage to pursue some simple measures, such as on housing standards and insulation, and to support the cheapest low carbon technologies, to reduce our emissions and keep costs down for energy consumers.  Ministers must also step up to the long-term challenge, and provide clear direction to investors so that innovative technologies are ready when we need them; this will not happen if the Government keeps delaying and reversing policy decisions.”