Government urged by MPs to recommit to net zero strategy

IEMA's Digital Journalist Tom Pashby discusses how a cross-party group of MPs has launched a report in Westminster today, calling for the UK Government to recommit to its net zero greenhouse gas emissions target and to create a new Office for Carbon Removal.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the Environment, which is chaired by the Conservative Chris Skidmore MP who is leading on a government commissioned review of its net zero strategy, launched the report in the House of Commons.

The APPG’s report sets out a 10-point plan which includes calling for expanding the Energy Company Obligation “to improve home energy efficiency”, to “set up an Office for Carbon Removal to regulate offsetting”, and for the government to “Introduce ambitious nature restoration targets under the Environment Act”.

Labour MP Alan Whitehead, a vice-chair of the APPG said:

“Expensive fossil fuels are leaving UK homes cold and destroying the planet.

“We need a retrofit revolution to permanently bring down energy bills and carbon emissions whilst creating jobs across the country.”

IEMA – the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment – recently became supporters of the work of the APPG which “strengthens the influence of parliamentarians on public policy and public debate on the environment, and assists parliamentarians by improving their access to specialist information.”

Sarah Mukherjee MBE, chief executive at IEMA, said:

“This report highlights the urgent investment that is required to improve the energy efficiency of our building stock. For decades this has been an area of underinvestment and one in which we’ve seen successive policy failure.

“With the rising cost of energy likely to continue for some time, the widescale delivery of energy improvement measures for households and business premises will help to make bills more affordable in the face of energy market volatility. It will also mean a reduction in the amount of dirty energy that we use as supplies are transitioned onto a more sustainable footing.”

The Government has been criticised by green campaigners for appearing to row back on environmental commitments with policies such as lifting the ban on fracking and granting more licences for oil and gas exploration in the North Sea.

Officials have consistently said the Government remains fully committed to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050.