Today the Environmental Audit Committee publishes a letter sent
from the Chair of the Committee, Rt Hon MP, to the Prime Minister, Rt
Hon MP, raising questions arising
from the Prime Minister’s recent announcement on net zero
measures.
The Committee raised concern about the “presentation of the
debate over net zero measures as a binary choice between those
who oppose net zero policies on the grounds of excessive costs,
excessive burdens or rejection of the evidence of climate change,
and those who demand change at a pace which is impractical or
unaffordable”.
The Committee lamented that the speech was made the day after the
House of Commons rose for the conference recess, instead of
leaving “time for a statement to be made to the House”.
The letter highlights that a number of the policy proposals
recently “scrapped” by the Prime Minister were not yet
established Government policy, and asked whether they were under
active consideration by Ministers for implementation.
The Committee calls for a revised Carbon Budget Delivery Plan in
light of the changes to Government policy and the Prime
Minister’s assertion that international and domestic
decarbonisation commitments can still be met.
The letter also requests information on the impact of the delay
to the proposed ban on new petrol and diesel cars and how this
relates to the mandate for manufacturers to increase sales of EV
vehicles to 80% by 2030. It has raised similar questions about
the impact of delay to the proposed ban on the installation of
oil and LPG boilers and new coal heating, and how this relates to
the mandate for boiler manufacturers to increase sales of heat
pumps by 2030 and the welcome increased Boiler Upgrade Scheme
grant to £7,500. The committee also expressed concern about
recent dissolution of the Energy Efficiency Taskforce.
Chair comment
Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, Rt Hon MP, said:
“The transition to net zero is one of the greatest challenges
facing the UK. The decision to delay some targets, such as the
ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars, is disappointing,
but reflects the Government’s assessment of the scale of the
mammoth task ahead.
“In last week’s announcements the Prime Minister sought to
reaffirm his administration’s firm commitment to reaching net
zero, while delaying certain important measures and relaxing
others. It concerns the Committee that these announcements were
not accompanied with a clear plan setting out how the UK’s
decarbonisation commitments are now to be met, and the Committee
today calls for a revised Carbon Budget Delivery Plan to be
produced urgently.
“There is a high degree of consensus – in Parliament and amongst
the public – on the need to reduce emissions in the face of the
threat of climate change. While pragmatic implementation is
vital, pace must be maintained.
“In today’s letter the Committee calls on the Prime Minister to
avoid falling into the trap of presenting net zero as an
all-or-nothing, binary choice. The environment and the economy
are not in opposition to one another. On the contrary, green
policies are a key part of sustainable growth.
“We echo the Prime Minister’s call for transparency in politics.
Last week’s raft of policy announcements could have provided a
great opportunity for the Government to have these policy changes
debated by Parliament before the recess. Parliamentary scrutiny
is one of the cornerstones of our democracy, and good scrutiny
makes for good government.
“I look forward to the Prime Minister, in the spirit of openness
and transparency he advocated in his speech, providing further
detail on these policies to my colleagues on the committee, and
to facilitating constructive parliamentary scrutiny of the
Government’s net zero strategy.”
