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The UK is set to publish a review on its goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 in early 2023, as reported by Bloomberg on January 2. The review is expected to help decide how the country could realize maximum economic growth and investment alongside the government’s climate change targets, while also considering the need for energy security and the costs for the public. Chris Skidmore, a Tory MP, has been appointed by former Prime Minister Liz Truss to oversee the review that started on September 26, 2022. Truss aimed for a new net-zero transition plan that is “as pro-growth and pro-business” as possible.
UK’s Climate Change Committee (CCC) indicated that the country is making scant progress on decarbonization. The CCC’s 2022 progress report revealed that a series of failures in delivery plans have hindered progress in carbon-intensive sectors such as buildings, transport, and agriculture, despite the UK’s ambitious climate goal. During Truss’s 44 days in office, she vowed to lift the ban on fracking to tap the UK’s abundant onshore natural gas resources, opposed the use of solar panels in UK’s farmland due to concerns about food security, and planned to pass the new Retained EU Law Bill, which would remove hundreds of environmental protection laws. The actions hampered UK’s green agenda and damaged the government’s relationships with environmental groups. The new Sunak government is set to end the climate fight and fix relationships. At the COP27 Summit, Rishi Sunak called for a faster transition to renewable energy and vowed to make the UK a clean energy superpower.
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