The government must urgently undo the “damage” to net-zero progress from Rishi Sunak’s policy reversals, the Climate Change Committee has said.
The government’s climate advisors have also urged Keir Starmer's new administration to make climate adaptation a key part of policymaking across government.
The watchdog’s latest report warns that only a third of the emissions reductions required to achieve the country’s 2030 target are currently covered by credible plans.
It has written a priority list of ten recommendations, which include reversing Rishi Sunak’s net-zero policy alterations and strengthening the government’s climate-adaptation strategy.
In September, the then-prime minister announced plans to delay the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars by five years. Labour has since committed to reversing this. Sunak also pushed back the phasing out of new gas boilers by nine years and exempted 20% of households from the new 2035 target. Labour has suggested it will not undo this decision.
The CCC report warns that these policy rollbacks caused “damage” by increasing the gap between the UK’s plans and its targets and creating “significant uncertainty about the country’s commitment to net zero”.
The committee said “rapid progress” is now needed to “make up lost ground”. It has implored the new government to make “a clear commitment to the net zero transition, backed with rapid policy action and a sharp-eyed focus on removing barriers”.
The watchdog said it hopes that the new government will use November’s Cop29 climate conference in Baku this autumn to “re-establish UK leadership on the global climate stage”.
On adaption, the CCC said it “must become a fundamental aspect of policymaking across all departments and be integrated into other national policy objectives”.
Professor Piers Forster, interim chair of the CCC, said: “The country’s 2030 emissions reduction target is at risk. The new government has an opportunity to course-correct, but it will need to be done as a matter of urgency to make up for lost time. They are off to a good start. Action needs to extend beyond electricity, with rapid progress needed on electric cars, heat pumps and tree planting.
“The transition to net zero can deliver investment, lower bills, and energy security. It will help the UK keep its place on the world stage. It is a way for this government to serve both the people of today and the people of tomorrow.”
The committee, whose former chief executive recently joined the government's new clean power mission control, also pointed to the positive news that the country’s emissions are now less than half the levels they were in 1990. It said this is largely due to the phase out of coal and the ramping up of renewables.
“This project has been a huge success,” the CCC said. But it added that continued progress on decarbonising the UK would required "ambitious action not just in the energy sector, but also across transport, buildings, industry and agriculture".
Responding to the report, energy secretary Ed Miliband said: "This report lays bare the failures of the previous government. On a vast range of policy areas, it says we are off track to meet our targets – and our country is paying the price with higher bills and energy insecurity.
“The good news is that this report confirms that a clean energy future is the best way to make Britain energy independent, cut bills, create good jobs, and tackle the climate crisis.
“That is why the government is wasting no time in delivering our mission. In just one week we have scrapped the nine-year onshore wind ban, established a National Wealth Fund, and consented more solar power than has been installed over the past year.
“This action will accelerate us towards meeting our targets, as we drive forward in our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower.”