Progress in Reducing UK Emissions 2023: Report to Parliament

This year saw the release of new detail on the Government’s plans for Net Zero with the publication of the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan (CBDP) prompted by last year’s High Court judgement. But policy development continues to be too slow and our assessment of the CBDP has raised new concerns. Despite new detail from Government, our confidence in the UK meeting its medium-term targets has decreased in the past year. The increased transparency embodied in the CBDP is welcome, but a key opportunity to raise the overall pace of delivery has been missed. Our key messages are: A lack of urgency. While the policy framework has continued to develop over the past year, this is not happening at the required pace for future targets. Stay firm on existing commitments and move to delivery. The Government has made a number of strong commitments, these must be restated and moved as swiftly as possible towards delivery. Retake a clear leadership role internationally. The UK will need to regain its international climate leadership. Immediate priority actions and policies. Action is needed in a range of areas to deliver on the Government’s emissions pathway. Develop demand-side and land use policies. The Government’s current strategy has considerable delivery risks due to its over-reliance on specific technological solutions, some of which have not yet been deployed at scale. Empower and inform households and communities to make low-carbon choices. Despite some positive steps to provide households with advice on reducing energy use in the last year, a coherent public engagement strategy on climate action is long overdue. Planning policy needs radical reform to support Net Zero. The planning system must have an overarching requirement that all planning decisions must be taken giving full regard to the imperative of Net Zero. Expansion of fossil fuel production is not in line with Net Zero. As well as pushing forward strongly with new low-carbon industries, Net Zero also makes it necessary to move away from high-carbon developments. The need for a framework to manage airport capacity. There has been continued airport expansion in recent years, counter to our assessment that there should be no net airport expansion across the UK.