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“An emission target can be set from 2016”
Energy secretary Ed Davey met his European counterparts this week with the goal of establishing an ambitious EU 2030 energy and climate policy.
Davey said this target was necessary to tackle climate change, because “only then will investors have the confidence to put the billions into low carbon that we need”.
However, Davey has seen the Energy Bill leave the House of Commons for the House of Lords with no definitive pledge for a 2030 decarbonisation target, although the Bill allows the energy secretary to set a decarbonisation target in 2016.
Proponents of a 2030 decarbonisation target said it needed to be set by 1 April 2014 to provide certainty for investors.
The latest attempt to get the decision brought forward failed, with peers voting 216 to 202 against (see story above).
Lord Oxburgh, who jointly tabled the amendment, said: “Investors have the choice of where to put their funds and they will not put their money into a decarbonised energy infrastructure unless they see the government committed not just by good intentions, but by the wording of the Bill.”
However, the government’s argument is that by 2016 there will be a greater understanding of the technologies available to help the UK to decarbonise, while there are also other ways of encouraging investment.
Ministers will argue they are being pragmatic, and by waiting until 2016, the best value for money route towards decarbonisation is being taken.
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