Delay on net zero same as denial, Deben warns

Support for delaying measures to tackle climate change is tantamount to denying that the problem exists, the chair of the Climate Change Committee (CCC) has said.

Recent weeks have seen growing pressure, led by the Net Zero Scrutiny Group of MPs and peers, for the government to scale back the pace of its drive to decarbonise the UK by 2050.

During a briefing on Wednesday for the Parliamentary Renewable and Sustainable Energy Group (Praseg) all party parliamentary group, Lord Deben described as “nonsense” former Brexit minister Lord Frost’s argument that the UK needs to take a more “proportionate” approach to net zero.

The arguments of those who have shifted their climate change denial to backing delayed measures to tackle the problem must be countered, the CCC chair said: “Delay is the same as denial because it means you don’t believe it. You can’t delay if you accept the science: that is very clear.

“We have allowed climate change to get out of control and therefore the only reasonable reaction is to move at least as fast as we are committed to.”

He said it was a “very peculiar argument” to blame increased energy bills on policies to boost renewable energy, given that the bulk of the increased cost is accounted for by wholesale gas prices.

But the former Tory cabinet minister said he was “very happy” to discuss rising energy prices with individual MPs who are concerned about the issue.

He also said the pace of government measures to hit net zero is still too slow.

“We still don’t have a sense of urgency but climate change doesn’t wait. We don’t yet find government recognising that we have to act today and we have a very short period of time and if you don’t act it costs you more.”

Lord Deben’s comments preceded the publication of analysis by Carbon Brief, which shows that ex-prime minister David Cameron government’s drive to cut “green crap” climate policies is adding around £40 per year to the average household’s energy bills.

The analysis calculates that the combined impact of these changes means UK energy bills are now around £2.5 billion higher than they would have been otherwise because households are having to use a greater quantity of more expensive gas for heat and power.

Climate Brief’s figure is based on the government maintaining levels of energy efficiency installations at 2012 levels, not withdrawing the introduction of the zero carbon standard for new homes in 2016, and not excluding onshore wind projects from Contracts for Difference projects.

The £2.5 billion saving would have translated into reductions of around £40 per household under the current price cap.

In a speech on Thursday, former prime minister Sir Tony Blair accused the government of still having “no plan” to achieve the transition to net-zero emissions.