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UK’s Third Climate Change Risk Assessment forecasts 2C
warming would reduce GDP by 1% year by 2045;
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REA calls for increased investment in renewables and
clean tech;
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Urges Government to bring forward measures on CfDs,
heat decarbonisation and hydrogen production targets.
The Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology (REA)
has responded to the UK’s Third Climate Change Risk Assessment
forecast that 2C warming would reduce GDP by 1% a year by 2045,
by calling for an acceleration in the deployment of renewable
energy and clean technologies to reduce emissions.
The new report assesses dozens of impacts the UK might face due
to global temperature increases through to 2050 and 2080,
outlining the likely risks in two warming scenarios of 2C and 4C.
Risks include water scarcity; loss of agricultural productivity;
risk to health and wellbeing; coastal erosion and flooding; and
risks to finance, investment and insurance. The report also
assesses the impact of the UK being exposed to international
risks caused by the climate crisis, affecting trade and
investment.
For eight of the risks assessed, economic damages will exceed
£1bn each year by 2050, even if warming is limited to 2C. The
report states the total hit is likely to be at least 1% of GDP in
a 2C scenario when all the risks are assessed.
The REA says that the report underlines the substantial economic
hit that will occur if key Net Zero targets are not met, and that
measures - such as adopting six monthly CfD auctions for all pots
- need to be quickly implemented.
Dr Nina Skorupska CBE, Chief Executive of the Association
for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology (REA), said:
“The Government’s own risk assessment confirms that, even if
global warming is limited to 2C, it would still wipe out 1% of
GDP a year by 2045, underling the huge impact to the UK economy
if the Government fails to meet its Net Zero targets.
“That is why we need to urgently see a new raft of measures
to help accelerate the energy transition, such as the adoption of
six monthly CfD auctions for all pots, bringing forward the 5GW
hydrogen production target, and stepping up plans for industrial
and non-domestic heat decarbonisation.
“The report is clear - the size of investment needed to
safeguard our future is modest in comparison to the damage caused
by the worst climate change scenarios should we fail to reduce
emissions.
“Rapidly accelerating the energy transition isn’t just an
environmental imperative, but an economic one too.”
—ENDS—
Notes to editors
- The Climate Change Committee’s Sixth Carbon Budget (Pg 239)
states:
“The transition to Net Zero emissions will be
capital-intensive, with increased upfront spending that in turn
yields ongoing savings in fuel costs. Much of these investments
and savings will come from and go to the private sector, both
businesses and individuals. Overall, we find that the net
costs of the transition (including upfront investment, ongoing
running costs and costs of financing) will be less than 1% of GDP
over the entirety of 2020-2050, lower than we concluded
in our 2019 Net Zero report.”
https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/sixth-carbon-budget/
