Government faces calls to publish emissions reduction plan

Publication could send a “clear signal to investors” claim CCSA

Energy groups have called for the Government’s new emissions reduction plan to be published as soon as possible.

The chief executive of the Carbon Capture Storage Association (CCSA), Luke Warren, the Government has previously indicated that the eagerly-awaited and delayed plan will set out Whitehall’s “new approach” to carbon capture and storage (CCS), so “needless to say, we are very keen for the report to be published as soon as possible”.

“There is a real opportunity for the plan to set out a fresh ambition for CCS and to send a clear signal to investors that CCS in the UK has a future,” added Warren.

The plan was originally due to be published last year, but was later delayed to the first quarter of 2017.

At a recent hearing of the House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee, the permanent secretary at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), Alex Chisholm, admitted he could not give a “definitive date” when the plan will actually be published.

When pressed for a timeframe by the former shadow energy secretary, Caroline Flint, he replied: “I would expect it to be this year.”

The Renewable Energy Association’s head of policy and external affairs, James Court, said the emission reduction plan “is the best opportunity to give the UK low-carbon industry and our members the framework to recover” from a “succession of negative policy changes”, which have stalled the sector.

“We may limp over the line in relations to our generation targets in 2020, but we are falling a long way short of the fourth and fifth carbon budgets, and there is serious work needed in heat and transport,” said Court.

“The emissions reduction plan is crucial if the government is serious about meeting the UK’s own legal targets.”

But the head of policy at the Association of Decentralised Energy (ADE), Jonathan Graham, said “the possibility of additional delay does not generate significant worries for us”.

A BEIS spokesman said: “Our emissions reduction plan will set out how we will reduce emissions through the 2020s and send an important signal to the markets, businesses and investors. 

“We are investing the time now to undertake critical preparatory work to ensure we get this right. This includes engaging across businesses, industry and other stakeholders on the shared challenge of moving to a low carbon economy.”