The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) welcomes news that the UK Government intends to implement a series of measures to help reduce the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions and tackle climate change.
The policies and consultations, announced in the Chancellor’s Spring Statement today, include:
- A ‘future homes standard’ which will ensure that new UK homes will be built without fossil fuel heating from 2025. This proposal is in line with CCC’s recommendation on new build housing in a major report to Government last month.
- New proposals to increase the proportion of ‘green’ gas in the gas grid, helping to reduce emissions from the mains gas supply. The consultation is expected to consider continued support for biomethane (and other forms of gasification) after funding for the Renewable Heat Incentive comes to an end in 2021. The Committee has been recommending increasing the proportion of green gas in the grid since 2016.
- A call for evidence on whether all passenger carriers should be required to offer genuine carbon offsets to customers.
- A call for evidence on a new business energy efficiency scheme which the Government previously announced it would consult on in the autumn 2018 budget.
Responding to the announcements, CCC Chief Executive, Chris Stark, said:
“I welcome the climate measures in the Chancellor’s Spring Statement and I’m particularly pleased to see the focus on reducing emissions from UK homes. The fossil fuels we burn to keep our homes warm are a significant chunk of UK emissions – we need a credible plan to tackle them. Today’s commitment to phase out fossil-fuelled heating in new homes by 2025 is in line with the Committee’s recent recommendation. It represents a genuine step forward in reducing UK emissions. Plans to consult on cleaning up the UK’s gas supply also get a thumbs up from the Committee – we have been calling for the Government to consider the use of alternative, ‘greener’ gases for some time. Taken together, these are positive steps from the Chancellor.”
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