The government’s net zero pledges are all talk with “scant evidence of delivery”, hampering much-needed progress in the built environment in particular, the Climate Change Committee has warned.
The statutory advisor on climate change has handed a new progress report to parliament, stating that it found “major failures in delivery programmes” towards the achievement of the UK’s climate goals.
Unless action is taken quickly, it said, the UK will fail to reach its targets.
The 600-page assessment, around 100 pages of which specifically address the built environment and construction, was damning of what it saw as a lack of action and commitment to achieving net zero.
The CCC’s report makes more than 300 recommendations for filling out policies over the next year, including changes to the tax system and planning to drive decarbonisation.
“Further progress must be led by government policies with clear direction, credible delivery mechanisms and suitable incentives to shape private sector action. In no sector of the economy is this yet complete,” said the CCC.
Policy gaps
Lack of progress in the built environment, which accounts for between 35-40% of emissions, was particularly concerning.
The report stated buildings are the UK’s second-largest source of emissions after surface transport, but pointed to “no sustained reduction in emissions from buildings in the last decade”.
This was found to be the case for the residential sector in particular. “There is a shocking gap in policy for better insulated homes,” the report said. “Government promised significant public spending in 2019 and committed to new policies last year. Neither has yet occurred.”
The report also highlighted a lack of leadership from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Michael Gove’s department “has not published any plans or details on progress in decarbonising its buildings or electric vehicle fleet”, according to the CCC. “This is a missed opportunity for leadership from a department in charge of important policies for decarbonising buildings,” it said.
The UK Green Building Council said its members were “hugely concerned” that government action to decarbonise buildings was “simply not happening fast enough”.
Missed commitments
Simon McWhirter, director of policy at UKGBC, said: “The CCC rightly identifies that energy efficiency in homes is the most significant policy gap in the building sector; with targets but no plan, funding, or timeline for the much-needed policies. We’re not going to hit our climate targets without a serious package of long-term structural and financial drivers in this area.”
He added: “The CCC says that comprehensive planning reform is needed to meet the UK’s international and national commitments to net zero – but the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill, which has planning reform at its centre, currently fails abjectly in this task. That’s why UKGBC is championing amendments to ensure our planning system helps to deliver, not undermine, the UK’s climate and environment commitments.”
John Gummer, chair of the CCC and also known as Lord Deben, said he was “eagle-eyed for the promised action”, but so far had seen none. He added: “Holes must be plugged in its strategy urgently. The window to deliver real progress is short.”
The report said: “Policies are now in place for most sectors of the economy, but a thorough review of progress finds scant evidence of delivery against these headline goals so far. There are some bright spots of progress, but in most areas the likelihood of under-delivery is high.
“This is a high-wire approach to net zero.”
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