The industry is unimpressed by the government’s latest attempt to create a path to net zero, with the British Property Federation calling for “bolder and more ambitious policies”.
Yesterday had been dubbed “Green Day” by ministers, with the publication of its Powering Up Britain report and a response to the recommendations made in Chris Skidmore’s Mission Zero review, which was published in January. That term was dropped on the day itself, replaced with “Energy Security Day”.
The government was obliged to issue an update on its strategy last year, after the High Court ruled that its existing plans were not detailed enough. But while the Powering Up Britain report is long – a total of more than 40 documents and 3,000 pages, including the initial 30-page report, an 84-page energy security plan and a 126-page net zero growth plan – it does not include any new funding or substantive new policies.
BPF chief executive Melanie Leech said the report was “another statement of intent when what we need is urgent action”.
She accused ministers of lacking commitment to the agenda. “The property sector is fully committed to net-zero but government must seize the moment and deliver bolder and more ambitious policies that will support the rapid change needed.”
She added: “If government is serious about achieving net zero by 2050, there must be more recognition of the challenges in decarbonising the built environment, which accounts for around 25% of UK emissions.”
The built environment barely features in the new report, which offers no new policies for decarbonisation.
Labour’s shadow climate change secretary, Ed Miliband, dismissed the entire output as a “weak and feeble groundhog day of re-announcements”.
Leech added: “While the report acknowledges the planning ‘bottleneck’ in updating historic and listed buildings, there must be more urgency in aligning the planning system to the net zero agenda and a national retrofit strategy that supports and incentivises green refurbishment.”
Meanwhile, in a 67-page response to the Skidmore review, published at the same time as the Powering Up Britain report, the government accepted many of the recommendations, but failed to establish a clear path to achieving many of them.
Ministers have also been criticised over shifting the focus, and £20bn of funding, from renewables to carbon capture, namely storing CO2 under the North Sea.
Instead of shuffling the cards on energy security, the BPF said the focus should be on offering clarity to the sector.
“We also need clarity on minimum energy efficiency standards and regulation that establishes a clear and consistent methodology for measuring the environmental performance of a building over its full lifecycle, which will guide the property sector in how to approach development and refurbishment,” Leech said.
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