Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to relax the UK’s net zero ambitions will lead to increased energy bills and motoring costs, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) has said.
Last month, Sunak reduced ambitions on a raft of green policies, including pushing back the ban on the sales of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035; phasing out 80 per cent of new gas boilers, rather than all of them, by 2035; delaying the ban on off-grid oil boilers to 2035; pledging to not introduce new home energy efficiency regulations for landlords or homeowners; and ruling out taxes to discourage flying.
The CCC said that electric vehicles (EVs) will be “significantly” cheaper than petrol and diesel vehicles to own and operate over their lifetimes, so the undermining of their roll-out will ultimately increase costs for consumers.
However, it did find that the decision would only have a small direct impact on future emissions, due to a new mandate ensuring that 80 per cent of new cars sold by 2030 will be zero-emission.
Nevertheless, it was critical of the uncertainty that has been introduced by changing near-term targets and expressed concern that weakened ambitions could undermine consumer confidence or jeopardise inward investment from EV manufacturers.
The report also found that the cancellation of landlord regulations designed to make them improve the energy efficiency of their properties alongside mandates on replacing gas boilers will lead to higher household energy bills.
The proposed rules would have reduced renters’ energy bills significantly, given expectations that energy prices will remain elevated over the next few years, although the lower bills may have been partially offset by rent increases.
Government estimates of the energy savings from the policy indicate that it would have saved tenants of upgraded properties £255 per year under ‘normal’ energy prices or £325 at the current price cap.
The relaxed rules will also make efforts to decarbonise the UK’s buildings on a 2050 net zero timeline significantly more difficult to achieve, the CCC said.
Professor Piers Forster, CCC chair, said: “We welcome tangible positive policy progress in some key areas, most notably with the implementation of the new zero emission vehicles mandate and the recent deal with Tata Steel for industrial electrification in Port Talbot.
“But the Prime Minister has also relaxed important policies to decarbonise buildings and transport and sent a message to business and the international audience that he will allow more time for the UK to transition to key clean technologies. These steps have countered the positive progress of other announcements.
“We remain concerned about the likelihood of achieving the UK’s future targets, especially the substantial policy gap to the UK’s 2030 goal. Around a fifth of the required emissions reductions to 2030 are covered by plans that we assess as insufficient.
“Recent policy announcements were not accompanied by estimates of their effect on future emissions, nor evidence to back the government’s assurance that the UK’s targets will still be met. We urge the government to adopt greater transparency in updating its analysis at the time of major announcements.”
