Rishi Sunak's Shift on Climate Leaves UK's Climate Policy in the Shadows
The UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has implemented a stunning reversal of climate-friendly policies, with new plans to max out oil production and delay low-carbon requirements. This is unfortunate for a few reasons.
The UK has built a strong system for addressing climate change. It has set a target to drastically cut UK greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 under the Climate Change Act. It is in legislation. The Act also established the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) to ensure that emissions targets are evidence-based and independently assessed. Furthermore, the CCC monitors the progress made by the UK government in reducing emissions and mandates the government to make the necessary adjustments.
The UK held a strong position in terms of establishing credibility to reduce the gap in carbon emissions. Coupled with a financial system aimed at bridging this gap, the government could create a potent mechanism that motivates businesses and individuals to take effective climate action.
Instead, it threw all that into question. The prime minister declared that the government is withdrawing some core policies and objectives related to emission reduction, a decision entirely within his authority, provided he had a better strategy to guarantee the emission targets are met.
One example is the housing sector, which is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and needs urgent action to reduce its environmental impact. According to the Climate Change Committee, the UK’s legally binding climate change “targets will not be met without the near-complete elimination of greenhouse gas emissions from UK buildings”. In addition, the Committee has also warned that the UK’s housing stock is not adequately prepared for the impacts of climate change, such as higher temperatures, flooding and water scarcity. The prime minister could directly address the homeowners, providing them with solutions that could address climate change and bring energy bills down.
Instead, the government’s policies on reducing emissions from the UK’s 29 million homes have been stalled. There are still many barriers and gaps that need to be overcome, such as the performance and compliance of building regulations, the skills and training of the construction sector, and the finance and funding for low-carbon and resilient housing.
Rishi Sunak’s moves have been seen as a “self-serving climate retreat and an attempt to mollify right-wing critics and seduce voters wary of the costs of climate action.” Environmentalists, climate scientists, and business leaders condemned his announcements, arguing that they undermine the government's credibility and damage the UK's economy and green transition investment.
But the UK will end up giving a lot more than just the specific measures. The world is continually progressing towards an energy transition, indicating a global shift away from traditional energy sources towards more sustainable and renewable alternatives. Solar and wind power have grown rapidly, reducing the likelihood of the most extreme warming scenarios. Clean energy investment will reach $1.8 trillion in 2023, up from just about $500 billion five years ago. Respectively, and according to IEA about $950 billion will go to unabated fossil fuel supply in 2023.
For the EU, 2022 was a record year for new solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity (+41 GW), which is 60% more than in 2021. New onshore and offshore wind capacity was 45% higher than in 2021. (More about the EU’s State of the Energy Union 2023 next week.)
The transition to clean energy is happening worldwide, and it's almost unstoppable. The UK not only lacks credible policies to meet emission reduction targets, but it is already at risk of falling behind other countries, which are forging ahead with huge incentives to accelerate net-zero investments. Rishi Sunak’s decisions only make matters worse.
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