The UK government plans to stick to its existing strategy to reach net zero emissions by 2050, although it declined to add further detail on some topics, in a response to recommendations made by its advisory Climate Change Committee (CCC).
The government is "confident" it will reach emissions targets, it reiterated. The CCC — an independent body — found in June that the UK must almost quadruple the rate of non-power sector emissions cuts to meet 2030 goals. The UK would have to almost double the rate of emissions reductions to meet that target if the power sector was included, the CCC said. The UK aims to cut emissions by at least 68pc by 2030, from 1990 levels. The UK has reduced emissions by 48pc over 1990-2022.
"Plans for meeting carbon budgets can include a mix of quantified and unquantified proposals and policies", the government wrote today in its response to the CCC, which called for an estimate of emissions abatement expected from unquantified plans the government had listed. The CCC pointed in June to a lack of credible plans and earlier this month flagged a "substantial policy gap" to reach decarbonisation targets.
The government's regulatory investment model for CO2 transport and storage is "expected to be delivered in the second half of 2024" and prior to final investment decisions for so-called Track 1 projects, it said. Track 1 is the government's plan to have two carbon capture and storage (CCS) hubs operational by the mid-2020s. Although an update of the regulatory model is due this year, the CCC had recommended it was finalised last year, to allow time for construction and infrastructure for the projects. The government would not provide more information on the Track 1 or 2 processes, in case it jeopardised negotiations, and could not give a breakdown of spending for the £20bn ($24.2bn) it has committed to CCS. Funding allocation is "subject to the outcome of negotiations", it said.
The UK has "no plans to appoint a climate envoy", the government said, although it confirmed that the prime minister, energy minister and others would attend the UN Cop 28 climate summit, scheduled for November-December in Dubai. The government confirmed its support for global efforts to tackle climate change, including keeping a 1.5°C temperature limit within reach, phasing out "unabated fossil fuels" and hitting its pledge to deliver £11.6bn of climate finance between financial years 2021-22 and 2025-26.
