According to the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), the UK can end its contribution to global warming within 30 years by setting an ambitious new target to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050.
Achieving a ‘net-zero’ target by the middle of the century will meet UK’s commitment under the Paris Agreement, in order to reduce the polluting gases that cause climate change.
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Scotland has better potential to remove pollution from its economy than the UK overall, and can adopt a more ambitious target of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by 2045.
Wales has slightly lower opportunities than the UK, and should adopt a target for a 95% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, compared to 1990 levels.
This is a crucial time in the global effort to tackle climate change. Global average temperature has already risen by 1°C from pre-industrial levels, driving changes in our climate that are apparent increasingly
CCC said.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has also highlighted the key importance of limiting further warming to as low a level as possible and the need for deep and rapid emissions reductions in order to do so.
The CCC’s recommended targets, which cover all sectors of the UK, Scottish and Welsh economies, can be achieved with known technologies, along with improvements in people’s lives, and should be put into law as soon as possible, the Committee says.
Reductions in cost for some of the key zero-carbon technologies mean that achieving net-zero is possible within the economic cost that Parliament originally accepted when it passed the Climate Change Act in 2008.
Specifically, the Committee’s report finds that:
- The foundations are in place throughout the UK and the policies required to deliver key pillars of a net-zero economy are already active or in development. These include: a supply of low-carbon electricity, which will need to quadruple by 2050, efficient buildings and low-carbon heating, electric vehicles, developing carbon capture and storage technology and low-carbon hydrogen, stopping biodegradable waste going to landfill, phasing-out potent fluorinated gases, increasing tree planting, and measures to reduce emissions on farms. These policies must be urgently strengthened and must deliver tangible emissions reductions – current policy is not enough even for existing targets;
- Policies will have to increase significantly for a ‘net-zero’ emissions target to be achievable, considering that most sectors of the economy will need to limit their emissions to zero by 2050. The Committee’s conclusion that the UK can achieve a net-zero GHG target by 2050 and at acceptable cost is entirely contingent on the introduction without delay of clear, stable and well-designed policies across the emitting sectors of the economy. Government must set the direction and provide the urgency. The public will need to be engaged if the transition is to succeed;
- The total costs of the transition to a net-zero economy can be managed but they must be fairly distributed. Rapid cost reductions in vital technologies like offshore wind and batteries for electric vehicles mean that a net-zero greenhouse gas target can be met at an annual cost of up to 1-2% of GDP to 2050. However, the costs of the transition must be fair, and must be perceived as such by workers and energy bill payers. The Committee suggested that the Treasury reviews how the remaining costs of achieving net-zero can be managed in a fair way for consumers and businesses.
Moreover, the report shows that there are multiple benefits of the transition to a zero-carbon economy. These include benefits to people’s health from better air quality, less noise due to quieter vehicles, more active travel thanks to increased rates of cycling and walking, healthier diets, and increased recreational benefits from changes to land use.
In addition, the UK could receive an industrial boost as it leads the way in low-carbon products and services including electric vehicles, finance and engineering, carbon capture and storage and hydrogen technologies with possible benefits for exports, productivity and jobs.
Lord Deben, Chairman of the Committee on Climate Change, stated:
We can all see that the climate is changing and it needs a serious response. The great news is that it is not only possible for the UK to play its full part – we explain how in our new report – but it can be done within the cost envelope that Parliament has already accepted
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