Net Zero UK, COP27 and the Law
The draft agenda for a forthcoming conference of the Westminster Energy, Environment & Transport Forum suggests some areas of concern regarding the future of the UK’s climate change policy (WEF, 2022). The three main agenda sections are “The Net Zero Strategy”; “Reducing emissions across key sectors”; and “Priorities for policy and governance in delivery at the domestic and international level”. Within these broad headings are some topics which will be considered here. They are the new energy windfall tax; The Climate Change Committee’s 2022 Progress Report to Parliament; Outcomes from COP27; the Environment and Climate Change Committee report; and the High Court ruling on the Government’s net-zero strategy.
The new
energy windfall tax
The Prospect
trade union commented on the windfall tax on electricity generators announced
in the UK government’s autumn statement, describing it as a severe deterrent to
new renewable energy projects (Prospect, 2022). Renewable electricity generators “will face a 45%
windfall tax from January 2023 until March 2028. By comparison, the windfall
tax for the oil and gas sector will be set at a lower rate of 25% to 35%.” RenewableUK’s
chief executive Dan McGrail was quoted as saying that the tax “risks deterring
investment, at a time when the Chancellor should be incentivising clean energy
… Any new tax should have focussed on large, unexpected windfalls right across
the energy sector, instead profits at fossil fuel plants are inexplicably
exempted from the levy. Many renewable generators are on long-term, fixed price
contracts and most others sold their power for this winter over a year ago, so
they haven’t been making excess profits.” A joint letter from the four leading
trade associations representing the UK’s energy generators was sent to the Chancellor
of the Exchequer in May, expressing concern that a windfall tax could damage
the country's attractiveness to international investors, and pointing out that
“In wind energy alone, the UK must unlock up to £175 billion of private
investment by 2030 to meet the policy goals set out in last month’s Energy
Security Strategy. The nuclear industry must also mobilise tens of billions in
private investment to have eight reactors built or under construction by 2030.
Renewables and nuclear are our largest source of secure, domestic power and it
is crucial that we preserve and promote a predictable and attractive investment
environment.” (RenewableUK, 2022).
The
Climate Change Committee’s 2022 Progress Report to Parliament
The report described
the UK as “one of the few countries with emissions targets in line with the
long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement.” Nevertheless it concluded
that current programmes will not deliver Net Zero (CCC, 2022). Some of the key
messages can be summarised along the following lines. While the UK Government has a solid Net Zero strategy,
important policy gaps remain. Progress lags policy ambition, and “greater
emphasis and focus must be placed on delivery.” Active management of the risks involved in delivering “changes on the
ground” is required. Urgent action is needed to address the rising cost
of living by reducing demand for fossil fuels. There has
been little concrete progress regarding “many of the cross-cutting enablers of
the transition” to net zero. The UK presidency of the UN COP26 climate summit
in Glasgow was successful, and the UK must now build on this success.
The report contains hundreds of recommendations to government, one of
which will be cited here as an example. Item 28 addresses aspects of Manufacturing
and construction; Buildings; and Surface transport: the recommended action is
to “Set out a plan to
make an assessment of whole-life carbon and material use of public and private
construction projects mandatory by 2025, to enable minimum standards to be set.
The whole life carbon assessment should be sought at the planning stage to
enable efforts to reduce embodied carbon and materials.”
Outcomes
from COP27
An article
from Economist Impact (2022) listed key outcomes from COP27.
Perhaps the
most significant was the acknowledgement by richer nations of the need for funding
loss and damage in developing countries, who argue that they suffer most from
climate impacts, but contributed least to the problem. Establishment of a fund
was agreed, although the matter of who pays and who receives was left to future
meetings. About €340m in new pledges for loss and damage were made.
The number
of lobbyists from the oil and gas industries registered at COP27 exceeded the
number of delegates from any single country. A report released by campaigners
warned of the production expansion plans of the oil and gas companies.
More than
12,000 businesses have set net-zero climate targets, but there are concerns over
the rigour of such targets and the existence of loopholes. It is thought that
only half of companies setting net-zero targets have published robust plans. A task group has been set up to recommend
criteria for credibility.
Many
initiatives to boost resilience were launched demonstrating awareness of the
impacts of climate change on poorer people, and the urgent need to adapt. There
is a plan for early warning systems aiming to cover all populations in the next
five years, which will require governments to invest US$3.1bn. By the end of COP27 developed countries still
had not delivered the US$100bn a year promised in 2009.
In response
to the recent effects on food production of drought in the US, Europe, China
and India, and of flooding in Pakistan, and to calls from organisations
representing small-scale farmers globally, the COP27 presidency launched the
Food and Agriculture for Sustainable Transformation (FAST) initiative. It aims to
transform agriculture by 2030 by improving the quantity and quality of climate
finance contributions and will be led by the FAO of the UN. No mention was made
of food systems and the need for dietary changes. Small scale farmers were
estimated to need US$240bn a year; in 2018 they received US$10bn.
Carbon Brief
(2022) also reported on COP27, claiming that it “made history by including
food, rivers, nature-based solutions, tipping points and the right to a healthy
environment … for the first time.” The UK was mentioned in connection with
disagreements over food systems: while the “G77 plus China” bloc “reportedly
wanted references to broadening the scope to a “whole of food systems” approach
deleted”, the UK, France and Switzerland among others wanted to keep food
systems in.
The UK
announced the “forests and climate leaders’ partnership”, 26 countries representing
a third of the world’s forests that will meet twice yearly to “track
commitments” on efforts to “halt and reverse forest loss by 2030”. This
initiative follows the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use
made last year at COP26. “Those that declined to join the UK’s new initiative
include the DRC, Brazil, Russia, China and Peru”, countries which together
account for nearly half of the world’s forests.
A UK
Government news story gave proposed spending figures on commitments related to
COP27 (GOV.UK, 2022). A commitment was
made to triple funding for climate adaptation from £500m in 2019 to £1.5bn in
2025 in recognition of events such as floods in Pakistan and drought in Somalia;
there was support for the forest agenda in the form of an immediate £90m for conservation
in the Congo Basin tropical rainforest ecosystem; and £65 million in funding
for the Nature, People and Climate Investment Fund, which supports indigenous
and local forest communities.
The
Government was also said to be focused on partnering with the private sector to
facilitate green innovation and energy transition, at home and around the
world. Support was announced for the Clean Energy Innovation Facility which
provides grants to researchers and scientists in developing countries to
accelerate the development of clean technology, and the UK was working with G7
allies to provide countries with reliable, transparent sources of sustainable
infrastructure financing, for projects such as solar and geothermal power
plants and the Grand High Falls Dam hydropower project in Kenya.
The
Environment and Climate Change Committee report
In October UKParliament
(Committees) published extracts from the Environment and Climate Change
Committee’s report on its website (UKParliament, 2022). These pointed to the
need for “decisions by individuals and households to adopt low carbon
technologies and choose low-carbon products and services” and noted that while
“Government has introduced some policies to help people adopt new technologies,
like electric cars” it has not taken this approach in other areas. It has also
placed too much reliance “on as yet undeveloped technologies” and has shown
reluctance “to help people cut carbon-intensive consumption.” Baroness
Parminter, Chair of the Committee was quoted as saying “People power is
critical to reach our environmental goals, but unless we are encouraged and
enabled to change behaviours in how we travel, what we eat and buy and how we
heat our homes, we won’t meet those targets. Polling shows the public is ready
for leadership from the Government.” She felt that while people wanted “to know
how to play their part in tackling climate change and environmental damage”
Government appeared reluctant to help them cut carbon-intensive consumption.
Among the key recommendations of the report was the launch of a “public
engagement campaign to build support for helping people to adopt new
technologies and reduce carbon-intensive consumption in the key areas where
behaviour change is required”.
The Law
Writing in
Engineering and Technology magazine, Jack Loughran reported on the High Court’s
ruling that the UK government’s net-zero strategy breaches its obligations
under the Climate Change Act 2008, meaning that government will have to revise
its strategy by March 2023 (Loughran, 2022). The ruling stated that the
minister responsible for signing off the Net Zero Strategy “didn’t have the
legally required information on how carbon budgets would be met even though he
approved the strategy”. The net zero strategy was seen as lacking in
quantitative assessment of individual policies for emissions reduction, and the
report did not reveal that the analysis put before the minister fell short of
the required reductions. The legal challenge was brought by two environmental
campaign organisations and a private individual.
References
CCC, 2022,
Progress in reducing emissions: 2022 Report to Parliament, Climate Change
Committee, 2022, online, accessed 5 Dec 2022
https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/2022-progress-report-to-parliament/
Carbon Brief,
2022, COP27: Key
outcomes for food, forests, land and nature at the UN climate talks in Egypt,
online, accessed 5 Dec 2022, https://www.carbonbrief.org/cop27-key-outcomes-for-food-forests-land-and-nature-at-the-un-climate-talks-in-egypt/
Economist
Impact, 2022 “COP27 – five key takeaways from the UN climate talks”, Economist
Impact, Nov. 2022, online, accessed 6 Dec 2022
https://impact.economist.com/sustainability/five-key-takeaways-cop27
GOV.UK, 2022,
UK announces major new package of climate support at COP27, online, accessed 6
Dec 2022
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-announces-major-new-package-of-climate-support-at-cop27
Loughran, J.,
2022, High Court rules net zero strategy breaches UK’s climate obligations,
E&T, July 19, 2022, online, accessed 3 Dec 2022
Prospect,
2022, “Government windfall tax on electricity generators risks investment in
renewable projects”, Prospect, 2022, online, accessed 3 Dec 2022, https://prospect.org.uk/news/government-windfall-tax-on-electricity-generators-risks-investment-in-renewable-projects
RenewableUK,
2022, Joint Letter to the Chancellor on the implications of a windfall tax on
electricity generators, link to letter online, accessed 6 Dec 2022.
UKParliament,
2022, Government must support behaviour change to meet climate targets, The
Environment and Climate Change Committee, online, accessed 6 Dec 2022
WEF,
2022, Westminster Energy Forum, online, accessed 3 Dec 2022
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