PAC: There is still no plan for net zero by 2050

The government lacks a plan for how to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 despite setting the target almost two years ago, a heavyweight committee of MPs has concluded.

In a report on the government’s progress on cutting emissions, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has concluded that there is “no coordinated plan with clear milestones towards achieving the target” nearly two years after Parliament legislated the 2050 net zero target in June 2019.

The PAC recommends that the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) should ensure key sector strategies, such as that for heat and buildings as well as the overarching net-zero strategy, are published by September.

These should include clear timelines of key net-zero milestones and decision points, to give Parliament and the public an overview of government’s net-zero plans, what it intends to achieve and when.

The report recommends that BEIS should draw up metrics to report on progress on cutting emissions levels, which should be reported on regularly from the end of this year.

The lack of a plan or benchmarks makes it difficult for Parliament and the general public to understand or scrutinise how the country is doing in its efforts to achieve net-zero emissions, according to the PAC.

The report also concludes that individual departments are not yet sufficiently considering the impact on net zero when taking forward projects and programmes.

And while the Treasury has changed its Green Book appraisal guidance to ensure departments place greater emphasis on the environmental impacts of their policies, it has “not set out how this will work in practice”.

The PAC has set the Treasury a two-month deadline to set out how it will ensure its guidance will lead to departments adequately considering and reporting the impact of policy decisions on net zero; how all fiscal stimulus packages and infrastructure proposals will be stress tested against net zero and the measures that should be incorporated into the Green Book to ensure projects are only approved if they align with 2050 target.

The committee warns that the government has not yet properly engaged with the public on the substantial behaviour changes achieving net zero will require with as much as two thirds of the future reduction in emissions relying on individual choices and behaviours, according to the Climate Change Committee.

The report says that there has so far been “no coordinated government messaging” about the changes and choices people will need to make.

The PAC also urges greater engagement with local authorities.

PAC chair Meg Hillier said: “Government has set itself a huge test in committing the UK to a net zero economy by 2050 – but there is little sign that it understands how to get there and almost two years later it still has no plan.

“COP26 is a few months away; the eyes of the world, its scientists and policymakers are on the UK – big promises full of fine words won’t stand up.”

In another report, also issued today, the BEIS committee has called for the COP26 to be provided the “greatest levels of resourcing” and is given the “highest priority” across government.

Richard Black, senior associate at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said: “These reports will make uncomfortable reading for a Prime Minister proclaiming climate leadership – one saying he doesn’t have a plan at home, the other that he doesn’t have a vision internationally.

“Coming on the back of a Budget that didn’t even try to get the Conservatives on track to their net zero target, the conclusion that they don’t have a plan for reaching it, just months before the UK hosts a major UN climate summit for the first time, should stimulate some serious thinking right across Whitehall.”