Climate Committee calls urgently for clearer policies to reduce emissions in road building, aviation, industry and more

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The CCC is the UK’s independent adviser to the government on tackling climate change and it has today released its annual report to parliament regarding Progress on reducing emissions. It states that “glimmers of the net zero transition can be seen” but “action overall is worryingly slow”.

The UK has set ambitious targets for decarbonisation but is sorely lacking in policy to achieve these goals, especially those after 2030 and related to the sixth carbon budget (2033 to 2037). The CCC criticises the government for continuing to place “reliance on technological solutions that have not been deployed at scale, in preference to more straightforward encouragement of people to reduce high-carbon activities”.

It welcomes the establishment of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero for bringing focus to the net zero challenge, but points out that seven of the priority recommendations made to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) last year have seen no progress made. Similarly, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities have not made any progress on the CCC’s priority recommendations from 2022.

It states that “the UK has lost its clear global leadership position on climate action”.

Relating to infrastructure, the CCC’s recommendations include:

• A strategic review of road-building projects (similar to the Welsh Roads Review) to asses whether they are consistent with its environmental goals
• A plan for removing diesel from passenger rail use by 2040 and achieving a net zero railway by 2050, including a rolling programme of electrification
• Ensure that planning frameworks and guidance across the UK support a clear presumption against new consents for coal production
• An airport capacity strategy to manage demand if the aviation sector is not on track to achieve the Jet Zero emissions reduction pathway
• A more strategic and joined-up approach to infrastructure planning and investment
• HM Treasury should continue to support the UK Infrastructure Bank and should assess whether there is scope to adjust its remit slightly to enable it to support a wider range of activities
• A clear process and governance framework should be set out for energy planning across national, regional and local levels. Planning should be on a whole-system basis and should include both technical and non-technical evaluation

The CCC chairman Lord Deben said: “The lesson of my 10 years at the CCC is that early action benefits the people of this country and helps us to meet the challenges of the coming decades more cheaply and more easily. Yet, even in these times of extraordinary fossil fuel prices, government has been too slow to embrace cleaner, cheaper alternatives and too keen to support new production of coal, oil and gas. There is a worrying hesitancy by Ministers to lead the country to the next stage of net zero commitments.

“I urge the government to regroup on net zero and commit to bolder delivery. This is a period when pace must be prioritised over perfection.”

A spokesperson for BEIS said: “We can be proud of the UK’s record as a world-leader on net zero. We are going far beyond other countries and delivering tangible progress whilst bringing down energy bills with hundreds of pounds coming off bills from next month.

“The UK is cutting emissions faster than any other G7 country and attracted billions of investment into renewables, which now account for 40% of our electricity. In the last year alone, we have confirmed the first state backing of a nuclear project in over 30 years and invested billions to kickstart new industries like carbon capture and floating offshore wind.

“With a new department dedicated to delivering net zero and energy security, we are driving economic growth, creating jobs, bringing down energy bills, and reducing our dependence on imported fossil fuels.”

More detail on the CCC’s analysis of the UK’s progress in reducing emissions from surface transport, industry, fuel supply, aviation and more is below.

Surface transport

Surface transport emissions increased by 3% in 2022 compared to 2021 as bounce back from the pandemic continued, but remains 8% below 2019 levels.

Policy progress has been more sluggish than expected as various key documents and decisions have been delayed. “This increases delivery risk across the sector, both by directly delaying deployment and by squeezing regulatory development timelines, reducing the ability for policies to push for greater ambition and leading key regulatory proposals to include more flexibility,” the CCC says. “The government must now proceed with urgency to get plans in this key sector back on track.”

The government has made no progress on clarifying the role for car demand reduction in meeting its targets. Active travel funding, bus fare caps, low-traffic neighbourhoods and low-emission zones have been positives, but have been counterbalanced by negative developments including delays to local transport plan guidance and cuts to the active travel budget.

The CCC says there has been little progress on modal shift to lower-carbon forms of transport and concerns remain around public transport service provision, reliability and cost.

It says that the government’s “long-overdue update” of its National Networks National Policy Statement is welcome but “needs to be clearer on the network’s role in reducing traffic growth”.

To reduce car usage, the CCC wants to see these points addressed:

• The government needs to begin the “urgently” begin the development and of a “coherent” set of policies to reduce car demand
• It should work with local authorities on local transport plans, providing clear advice on how to plan for, calculate and deliver quantifiable carbon reduction
• All scheme appraisals should explicitly consider national road traffic prediction decarbonisation scenarios and assess the emissions impacts they will generate. Where detrimental, there should be a requirement to develop mitigating actions
• The government should launch a strategic review of road-building projects (similar to the Welsh Roads Review) to asses whether they are consistent with its environmental goals
• The government must produce pans to address the fiscal issues relating to decarbonisation of transport eg Reconsider road pricing and remove the reduction on fuel duty (which “amounts to a government subsidy for driving” according to the CCC)

The CCC’s report also reiterates the need for a government plan for removing diesel from passenger rail use by 2040 and achieving a net zero railway by 2050, as none has yet been forthcoming. “This is needed to ensure that funding commitments and network planning are appropriately directed and consistent with what will be required,” the CCC says. It also says that the plan needs to include the establishment for a rolling programme of electrification.

Fuel supply

The CCC has downgraded the government’s policy progress on fuel supply compared to last year.

It has condemned the government’s decision to grant planning approval for a new coal mine in Cumbria, saying it is a “leadership-damaging mistake” and that it “undermines the UK’s reputation on energy transition and the legitimacy of its Glasgow Climate Pact commitments”.

It also points out that “if development of the mine goes ahead following the decision, it will commit the UK to emissions from coking coal, for which there may be no domestic use after 2035”.

The CCC is also dismayed at new licensing for oil and gas production in the North Sea, saying that it will have a marginal effect on fuel prices – at best.

Assessing the government’s commitment to deliver up to 10GW of low-carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030, the CCC says that there is greater clarity needed on targets for hydrogen production volumes and deployment plans need accelerating as the current plan may not be sufficient.

It is awaiting the government’s biomass strategy. “The absence of the strategy is leading to significant uncertainty on plans and ambitions for bioenergy and it should be published urgently,” it says.

The CCC would like to see:

• Greater ambition for decarbonising fuel supply – this should be required and incentivised by government policy
• Greater clarity over the requirements for new oil and gas installation to electrify
• A delivery plan for rolling out electrification to oil and gas infrastructure
• Strategic decisions around the scale of hydrogen use across sectors
• More detail on the contribution of carbon capture and storage to the government’s hydrogen production targets
• Fast tracking of the development of new business models for hydrogen transport and storage with a view to keeping options open for larger scale hydrogen use by 2030
• Identification of a set of no-regrets investments in hydrogen infrastructure that can proceed now
• Ensure that planning frameworks and guidance across the UK support a clear presumption against new consents for coal production
• The tests for allowing any further oil and gas exploration and extraction should be strengthened and clarified

Aviation

The CCC believes that the government’s Jet Zero Strategy is “high risk due to its reliance on nascent technology”, especially sustainable aviation fuels and aircraft efficiency savings. Its strategy projects a 70% rise in aviation demand by 2050 (compared to 2018 levels), whereas the CCC’s balanced pathway recommends a 25% increase over the same period.

Demand management is something that the CCC believes the government has a range of options for. This includes addressing private flying and lower-cost domestic rail travel.

It says that the trend of airports around the UK expanding in capacity and gaining approval for expansions is incompatible with the net zero targets.

The CCC says the government needs to address:

• There is a lack of airport capacity strategy to manage demand if the aviation sector is not on track to achieve the Jet Zero emissions reduction pathway
• Emissions from flying should be reflected in the cost of flying, this could be addressed using fiscal policies
• The government has to develop demand-side policies to manage demand, such as adequately incentivising lower-carbon travel choices
• Transport carbon intensity, ticket demand and private flying is not currently tracked, making it difficult to devise ways approaches to reduce carbon in aviation
• The approach to SAF must take into account that there is high uncertainty regarding domestic and global feedstock and not become over-reliant on the buy-out mechanism
• There is no detail on how the government will support the rollout of zero emissions aircraft beyond 2030
• Work to address non-CO­­­­₂ effects of SAF must be accelerated

Industry

There is no plan to support industrial electrification and little evidence that industry is preparing to electrify. This is particularly notable in the steel sector where government expects electrification to have a major role in future production.

The government expects significant industrial emissions reductions from resource efficiency. However, there is a lack of policy to support this on the required scale. There is also no policy for decarbonising off-road machinery.

The CCC is encouraged to see more private companies setting public emissions reduction targets but its analysis shows that it falls short of what will be required.

There is a lack of data availability in this sector, which critically limits monitoring, evaluation and policy implementation.

To be addressed:

• No industrial carbon capture and storage projects have yet been guaranteed government support
• There is a lack of incentives for industrial SMEs to implement energy efficiency measures
• There is an urgent need to set out new policies to achieve significant emissions reductions from resource efficiency
• There is a need for more measures to improve the resource efficiency of production
• There are very few policies to reduce consumption
• Further details and a timeline are needed on the maximising resources and minimising waste programme in England
• Current funding for industrial electrification is inadequate and a small fraction of that available for hydrogen or CCS
• High electricity prices continue to be a strong disincentive to industrial electrification
• There is no strategy and a lack of policies to support the decarbonisation of off-road mobile machinery

Cross-cutting enablers

The CCC says that there is a lack of prominence of climate issues in government communications, which risks signalling that it is not a priority. A coherent public engagement strategy on climate action is long overdue.

The CCC is encouraged by UK companies taking strong action on net zero, but says that the claims of some large companies lack credibility. More focus on supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is needed.

There has been insufficient progress in support for innovation in the last year, according to the CCC, and it must be accelerated.

The planning system continues to cause issues due to “inconsistent and misaligned decisions undermining local effort to deliver net zero actions”.

To be addressed:

• The government must create the promised guiding framework to amplify net zero messaging
• A public engagement strategy remains much-needed, prioritising sectors and areas where net zero policies require a high pace of change or highly visible technological change
• To empower people to make green choices, the government needs to communicate clearly what the most effective ways are for households to reduce emissions, and demonstrate leadership in adopting these green choices
• Government should publish a detailed net zero skills roadmap, outlining the relevant skills standards, frameworks, and qualifications that need to be developed or updated, including a delivery timeline
• Government should set out its priorities for developing emerging net zero industries and technologies in the UK and use the Autumn Statement to put in place strong signals to stimulate their development and deployment
• The draft framework of the Transition Plan Taskforce should be implemented in full, with requirements on large private and public companies to report against the framework from 2024
• An evidence-based roadmap for the development of new technologies necessary to reach net zero should be published
• Currently the institutional responsibilities for strategic planning and delivery of a decarbonised, resilient power system are unclear
• A more strategic and joined-up approach to infrastructure planning and investment is also urgently needed
• The promised review of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) must happen this year and ensure that it is better aligned to the scale and urgency of the net zero, nature recovery and adaptation challenges
• Policy, funding and delivery mechanisms across all sectors of the economy need to be properly aligned to the pace of transition required and must work together constructively towards net zero
• The government should establish a dedicated unit with specific responsibility for managing cross-departmental risks and dependencies, coordinating cross-cutting actions and holding departments to account for delivery
• The government should develop plans to support development of the wide range of supporting skills that will be needed across the public sector to meet net zero and manage climate risk
• Regarding devolved administrations, there is currently a lack of transparent and effective coordination and delivery structures across the board
• Net zero implications and regulation are not embedded within other policies which affect local authorities, such as the Environment Act and the NPPF. This must be addressed to enable consistent but appropriately flexible delivery, while allowing local government to also address adaptation and nature recovery goals
• Further long-term funding is needed to address gaps in capability and capacity to allow local authorities to develop credible net zero and climate resilience plans that deliver upon the roles and responsibilities that they are expected to meet
• HM Treasury should continue to support the UK Infrastructure Bank and should assess whether there is scope to adjust its remit slightly to enable it to support a wider range of activities
• A clear process and governance framework should be set out for energy planning across national, regional and local levels. Planning should be on a whole-system basis and should include both technical and non-technical evaluation.

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