From warm words to action: The Committee for Climate Change’s 2022 Progress Report to Parliament
The Committee for Climate Change has published its 2022 Progress Report to Parliament, issuing a strong call for the Government to match its policy commitments with real action and promising to monitor key indicators of the Government’s progress against the Net Zero Strategy.
The key messages in the report include:
Action to tackle the cost of living crisis must be aligned to the Net Zero Strategy. There are now opportunities to move away from reliance on expensive fossil fuels.
There are still important policy gaps in the Net Zero Strategy, including on land use and energy efficiency in buildings, which need to be closed urgently.
Tangible progress is lagging behind ambition.
There is slow progress on wider enablers – we need a public engagement strategy and a proactive approach to tackling skills shortages.
Delivery risks need to be actively managed, including consumer demand for energy-heavy goods and services.
The report makes 327 recommendations, including 49 on Agriculture and Land Use and 60 on Buildings.
For Agriculture and Land Use the recommendations are something of a mixed bag. There is support for ongoing research and development into low-carbon farming practices, recognition of the need to develop understanding on how the transition to Net Zero will affect employment in the sector and a call for a comprehensive plan to increase the production and use of UK sourced timber.
But there are more controversial recommendations too, such as
a call to encourage a 20% shift away from all meat by 2030, rising to 35% by 2050, and a 20% shift from dairy products by 2030
a proposal to introduce regulations to reduce enteric methane emissions, focussed on the intensive beef and dairy sectors
a proposal to extend Nitrate Vulnerable Zones to all the land in the UK.
There appears to be a particular focus on peat, with 7 recommendations on this alone:
A comprehensive delivery mechanism to address degraded peatland should be implemented and all low productive trees should be removed from peatland
All upland peat should be under “restoration management” by 2045
Regulations should be introduced to mandate cover crops on lowland peat
Rotational burning on peatland should be banned before the start of the 2022 burn season
The retail sale of peat in horticulture should be ended by 2024
Clear timeframes to end domestic and industrial peat extraction across the UK should be set out
More sustainable management of peat soils in agricultural use should be required, including raising water levels
On Buildings there are proposals for much more to be done on energy efficiency, including
an energy advice service to support and encourage homeowners to decarbonise and adapt their homes
detailed policies for the approach to low-carbon heat and the phasing out of fossil fuel boilers accompanied by grant support
calls for a comprehensive vision to leverage private financing for the retrofit of UK homes and businesses
loopholes which allow new homes to be built now which do not meet current energy efficiency standards should be closed.
There are also proposals addressing flood risk, including a suggestion that the automatic right to connect to the public sewer should be ended and that more detailed flood risk plans should be part of the planning process.
The CCC is clearly looking to keep the pressure up on the Government to move from warm words to real action. It recognises the need to tackle both biodiversity and climate at the same time and raises the cross-cutting nature of much of the effort that is required. Whether the Government has the capacity or will to try to tackle all of its 327 recommendations remains to be seen.
29th June 2022