3 Management of carbon budgets
43. In this Part we explore progress to date against
the carbon budgets and how the Government manages the delivery
of policies to meet those budgets.
Progress to date
44. In October 2012 the Government published updated
energy and emissions projections covering the first four carbon
budget periods, which suggest that the UK will meet the first
three carbon budgets[148]
(Figure 2). David Kennedy told us that the first carbon budget
would be "easily met",[149]
as would the second carbon budget with "limited effort",
because of the recession and "not because we are on the right
path in terms of implementing measures to reduce emissions over
time".[150] While
the Government has not ruled out carrying forward the expected
out-performance against the first carbon budget to offset against
subsequent budgets, factoring that into future plans was not Government
policy.[151] In its
most recent progress report, the CCC argued that there was "no
rationale" for carrying forward out-performance because it
would "risk reducing incentives" to cut emissions. It
planned to issue formal advice to the Government on this in early
2014, when final emissions statistics for 2012 are released.[152]Figure
2: Performance against the carbon budgets
| Budget 1
(2008-12)
| Budget 2
(2013-17)
| Budget 3
(2018-22)
| Budget 4
(2023-27)
|
Carbon BudgetsCC's 'intended' path (MtCO2e)
| 3018 | 2679
| 2245 | 1950
|
Carbon Budgetsas legislated (MtCO2e)
| 3018 | 2782
| 2544 | 1950
|
Projected emissions (MtCO2e)
| 2928 | 2650
| 2473 | 2155
|
Projected out-performance/ or (shortfall) against legislated budgets (MtCO2e)
|
90
3.0%
|
132
4.7%
|
71
2.8%
|
(205)
(10.5%)
|
45. The CCC believed that the UK was "not currently
on track" to meet the third and fourth carbon budgets and
"without a significant increase in the pace of emissions
reduction, starting very soon, the costs and risks of moving to
a low carbon economy in the 2020s and beyond will be increased".
The CCC found that emissions rose by 3.5% in 2012. That was the
result of temporary factors,[153]
however, and once these are taken into account there was
an underlying reduction of 1-1.5%. A reduction rate of 3% was
needed to meet future carbon budgets.[154]
The CCC had consistently called for a "step-change"
in the rate of emissions reductions (Figure 3), and David Kennedy
told us that it was now approaching the time when that change
should start to manifest itself.[155]
The Minister for Climate Change believed that emission projections
showed a "changing pattern and a real quickening of the pace"
and that "the public can be pretty assured that, despite
the challenges the Government faces, we are on track".[156]
Figure 3:
Analysis of CCC's progress reports
First progress report, October 2009
| "A major shift in the pace of UK carbon emissions reduction must be achieved".
Emissions were falling at less than 1% per year, compared to 2% required to meet first carbon budget.[157]
|
Second progress report, June 2010
| "A step change in the pace of emissions reduction is needed".
Emissions fell by 9%, driven by recession and not policies. Government should aim to outperform first budget and not to bank out-performance.[158]
|
Third progress report, June 2011
| "A step change in the pace of emissions reduction is still required".
Emissions rose by 3%, but the level of emissions in 2010 was below the annual average for the first carbon budget, due to ongoing impacts of the recession.[159]
|
Fourth progress report, June 2012
| "When we first highlighted the need for a step change there was a lead-time of several years, this has now elapsed. Therefore the step change is needed urgently if we are to remain on track to meeting future carbon budgets".
Emissions fell by 7% in 2011. Underlying rate of progress was less than 1% - a quarter of that required to meet future carbon budgets.[160]
|
Fifth progress report, June 2013
| "The first carbon budget was met, largely due to the impact of the recession, which would also allow achievement of the second budget with limited effort ... However, we are not currently on track to meet the third and fourth carbon budgets. Without a significant increase in the pace of emissions reduction, starting very soon, the costs and risks of moving to a low carbon economy in the 2020s and beyond will be increased".
The underlying rate of emissions reduction was 1-1.5% against the required rate of 3%.[161]
|
The need for new policies to meet the carbon
budgets
46. David Kennedy told us that, although the Government had put
the "foundations" in place, there "is still a lot"
to do to make sure that the UK is on track to meet the carbon
budgets;[162] it "was
necessary for the Government to develop and implement policy measures
over the next two years".[163]
The CCC's latest progress report found there was "mixed"
progress in 2012. "Good progress" had been made on the
amount of new wind generation capacity added, insulation of lofts
and cavity walls in residential buildings, the emissions of new
cars and emissions from waste. Sustaining that progress would
"require further development and implementation of policy".
But in other areas "very little had been done" because
of a lack of policies and appropriate incentives. David Kennedy
told us that new approaches were required to urgently accelerate
progress.[164]
47. In the commercial and industrial sectors
there was "no evidence" that a "big opportunity"
to improve energy efficiency was being taken. There was a "multiplicity
of policies" in these sectors that needed rationalising and
stronger incentives were needed to drive take-up of measures.
Although the emissions intensity of new vehicles was "coming
down", a framework to reduce emissions from vans and HGVs
was needed, as was action to promote behaviour change in transport,
such as rationalising car journeys. Introducing renewable heat
technologies was "central" to meeting carbon budgets
later on, but "very little progress" had been made so
fara 2% market penetration up to 2012 compared to the 12%
envisaged by 2020 in the Government's Renewable Energy Action
Plan. There were significant barriers to greater uptake, which
were not adequately addressed by the small scale grant programme
currently in place. [165]
48. The Government acknowledged that new policies
are needed to meet the fourth carbon budget (paragraph 28).[166]
For the intervening budgets, the Minister told us that he did
not see the need for "new policies", but rather a "need
to deliver the potential of the policies we have set in place
... [which] we need to put our shoulder behind".[167]
Ben Golding from DECC told us that it was important to "make
the distinction between the policies that are coming on stream
and are not yet at full speed" and the CCC's assessment of
what will happen "if we just carry on at current trend rate".[168]
We explore below the scope for change in three specific areas:
domestic energy efficiency, electricity market reform and fluorinated
gases.
DOMESTIC ENERGY EFFICIENCY
49. In the Carbon Plan, published in 2011,
the Government stated that "we need to complete the cost-effective
'easy wins' in the buildings sector. This means maximising our
energy efficiency efforts over the next decade". The Green
Deal and Energy Company Obligation (ECO), at that time under development,
were "likely to result in all practicable cavity walls and
lofts having been insulated by 2020, together with up to 1.5 million
solid walls also being insulated".[169]
(Housing Standards and the Code for Sustainable Homes, on which
we are carrying out a separate inquiry,[170]
could also have an important role in improving domestic energy
efficiency.[171])
50. The CCC noted in its most recent progress report
that loft and cavity wall insulation rates increased in 2012 as
"energy companies aimed to meet their targets in the final
year of the supplier obligation schemes".[172]
However, there was a "significant risk around future delivery"
of loft and cavity wall insulation rates given "weaker incentives"
under the Green Deal and ECO. ECO has shifted the focus of energy
company insulation targets on to more expensive solid wall insulation
and hard-to-treat cavity walls, which could lead to large energy
bill increases.[173]
The CCC was also concerned that the incentives for take-up of
both schemes relied on a market-based approach to address essentially
non-financial barriers.[174]
51. Since the CCC's progress report, data on the
take-up of the Green Deal and ECO have been published.[175]
The majority of ECO measures installed have been for loft and
cavity wall insulation.[176]
While 38,259 Green Deal assessments have been completed, only
41 households confirmed that they wished to proceed with a Green
Deal and only 4 have signed a Green Deal.[177]
The Minister argued that the Green Deal scheme "was only
just getting started" and "it will take time as this
brand new market finds it legs". He expected the number to
start steadily rising.[178]
Some providers had faced technical issues and delays in getting
their systems into place. That was "frustrating", but
the Minister was encouraged that "the majority" of people
who have had assessments "were going to have or were contemplating
measures" as a result of the assessments. He estimated one
million households would install energy-efficiency measures by
March 2015.[179] Since
we took evidence during our inquiry, revised uptake data have
been published showing that the first Green Deal went 'live'[180]
in July, with a further 132 households signed up to the scheme.
By the end of July 2013 the number of completed Green Deal assessments
was 58,184.[181]
52. David Kennedy believed that the Government should
consider fiscal incentives to improve take-up, or link building
regulations to the Green Deal.[182]
The Minister said that the Government was looking at a "range
of incentives" for the Green Deal, funded by "a significant
amount of money" to be made available by the Treasury, although
this would include the funding for an existing cash-back scheme.
The Minister thought that "street-by-street" projects,
which blended ECO finance and Green Deal finance were "the
way to get this moving", but a range of other alternatives
were also being looked at. An announcement on incentives would
be made in the Autumn.[183]
DECC was looking to reduce its Green Deal team as part of the
8% savings it is required to make in the 2013 Spending Review.[184]
53. The Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation
are key policies for meeting the carbon budgets. Although it may
be too soon to judge the schemes' success, low take-up rates so
far may indicate significant non-financial barriers as well as
financial issues for homeowners. The Government should urgently
review the barriers holding back take-up of the Green Deal and
ECO schemes, including a survey of potential clients, in time
to bring forward fiscal incentives in the Autumn Statement 2013
to bolster them before low take-up rates produce a widespread
lack of confidence among both clients and the industry. While
DECC has to find staffing reductions as a result of the recent
Spending Review, the resources needed for the Green Deal and ECO
review should be given priority.
ELECTRICITY MARKET REFORM
54. Through the Government's Electricity Market Reform
programme, the CCC calculated that investment in low-carbon technologies
through the 2020s could result in cost savings of £25-£45
billion, or up to £100 billion if gas and carbon prices were
high.[185] In its recent
fifth progress report, however, the CCC identified "major
challenges relating to design and implementation of the Electricity
Market Reform".[186]
Investments were being delayed until changes were finalised.[187]
The CCC urged the Government to provide longer term certainty
by "setting out commercialisation strategies for less mature
technologies", to set a "carbon-intensity target for
2030" and to consider "extending funding under the levy
control framework out to this date".[188]
David Kennedy told us:
Three things need to happen for the Electricity
Market Reforms to work ... first [getting] the set of projects
now that are stuck waiting to go into construction and those need
to proceed into construction ... second is we need new projects
being developed so that they can sign contracts in the future.
The third thing is we need supply chain investment, for example
offshore wind supply chain investment.[189]
... you need a sense of medium-term, at least,
direction of travel ... If I am a supply chain investor, I can't
just invest off the back of a market that exists to 2020 and not
beyond, because I will not pay back my investment in that timeframe.
Our main issues are giving visibility around what happens beyond
the next several years ... and that is where the idea of the carbon
intensity target comes in.[190]
55. The CCC calculated that the cost-effective path
to meeting the 2050 emissions target in the Climate Change Act
involved a power station carbon intensity of 200 gCO2/kWh in 2020,
and 50 gCO2/kWh in 2050.[191]
However, emissions from the power sector increased by 8% in 2012
as a result of generators switching from gas to coal, driven by
low coal prices and a low carbon price. The CCC believed that
this increased use of coal would not be sustained in the "medium
to longer term" as European legislation on power station
emissions is applied and as the UK's carbon price floor rises.
David Kennedy did not expect any coal-fired stations to be operating
by the 2020s.[192]
With the increased use of coal in 2012, the carbon intensity of
the power generated increased to 531 gCO2/kWh but the physically
'achievable' overall intensity of power stations on the grid fell
by 6%, to 315 gCO2/kWh.[193]
56. In
our separate inquiry on green finance we are exploring the rationale
for continuing investment in the extraction of fossil fuels that
cannot be burnt without producing dangerous climate change.[194]
The Minister believed that there was not "necessarily
a direct correlation" between fossil fuels in the ground
and what will "end up being burnt commercially". He
saw the "big challenge" to be keeping coal in the ground,
and believed that the possibility of "abundant cheap gas
as an intermediate solution" offered "very great potential"
for that scenario.[195]
Ambiguity over the future role of gas-powered electricity generation
has heightened concern, however, about the pace of power sector
decarbonisation. In Autumn Statement 2012 the Chancellor announced
a Gas Generation Strategy, which included future gas-powered
electricity generating scenarios that envisaged the equivalent
of building 30 and 40 new gas power stations. David Kennedy at
the time called the latter scenario "completely incompatible"
with the CCC's recommended decarbonisation trajectory and carbon
budgets, and "not economically sensible".[196]
The Government had recently launched an Industrial Strategy for
the oil and gas sector which sought to "maximise economic
recovery of oil and gas from the UK Continental Shelf".[197]
57. The Energy and Climate Change Committee, the
Committee on Climate Change and others supported the introduction
of a decarbonisation target for the power sector in the Energy
Bill to help deal with that risk.[198]
The Bill enables the Secretary of State to set a decarbonisation
target in 2016.[199]
(An amendment to the Bill to set a decarbonisation target in 2014
was defeated in June 2013.[200])
The Government argued against allowing a target to be set before
2016 because "a decision on whether to set a target can only
be made when considering the trajectory of the whole economy towards
our 2050 target".[201]
The Minister thought that support for a decarbonisation target
was based on a perception that this was needed to counter a need
for large subsidies, when in fact "once we get through to
the 2020s we must be driving towards the goal of zero subsidy,
we should be in a situation by then where we have low-carbon
technologies that have reached 'grid parity' and can compete on
an open market with other forms of generation ... at which point
these targets fall away".[202]
58. The CCC warned that setting a decarbonisation
target as late as 2016 would maintain a "high degree of uncertainty"
about energy sector development beyond 2020, which would adversely
impact on supply chain investment decisions.[203]
David Kennedy told us that he could not see any circumstances
where we would aim to move to a low-carbon power sector without
having such a target.[204]
59. A decarbonisation target for the energy sector
is needed to address political risk and provide medium term certainty
to investors in renewable energy. We are dissatisfied that the
Government is not willing to set such a target before 2016. In
light of the evidence we have received in our inquiry, during
the passage of the Energy Bill the Government should reconsider
setting a decarbonisation target now for 2030, which would deliver
the Committee on Climate Change's recommended limit of 50g CO2/kWh
by 2050 (paragraph 55).
FLUORINATED GASES
60. Although only 3% of total greenhouse gases, fluorinated
gases have a strong global warming potential.[205]
Used primarily in refrigeration, air conditioning and foam fire
extinguishers, emissions of these gases have risen by 12% since
1990. The European Commission has recently proposed strengthening
existing regulations on their use. The CCC noted, however, that
some companies already appear to be voluntarily going further
than the Commission's proposals. It recommended that the Government
support those proposals, but also consider pushing for a more
ambitious agreement to phase out their use by 2020.[206]
The Government's management of
carbon budgets
61. The Government published its Carbon Plan
in December 2011,[207]
setting out its decarbonisation policies over the first three
carbon budget periods, the expected carbon reductions from those
policies and 'milestones' that government departments should meet
to deliver the policies. For the fourth budget period, the Carbon
Plan set out a number of scenarios for how that budget could
be met.[208] The Government
lays before Parliament an Annual Statement of Emissions,[209]
and Final Statements of emissions for each budgetary
period (the final statement for the first budget period must be
produced by 31 May 2014.)[210]
The Government also publishes Updated Energy and Emissions
Projections each October, revising the projected emissions
reductions expected from each policy listed in the Carbon Plan.[211]
The Committee on Climate Change provides a progress report to
Parliament each year in June, to which the Government must respond
in October. The Government considers these reporting arrangements
as the primary mechanism for holding departments to account for
performance against carbon budgets because producing them involves
consultation across Whitehall and provides a public annual assessment
of progress.[212] In
our earlier report we expressed concerns that Parliament was not
sufficiently engaged with the urgency surrounding climate change
and called for greater engagement by Parliament with the work
of the Committee on Climate Change. When the Government
provides its response to the CCC's annual progress reports it
should facilitate a debate on those responses in the House.
62. The Carbon Plan contains output-based
milestones, such as publishing a particular report, implementing
a framework or introducing a standard. Of the 125 milestones set,
90% are assigned to five key departments.[213]
The NAO told us that the Government has not updated the milestones
in the Plan due to staffing constraints, nor aligned them
with current departmental business plans. For some time, quarterly
progress reports against milestones have not been prepared.[214]
DECC, who produce the Carbon Plan, told us that it had
"not stopped using the Carbon Plan to track progress
as such", and was in the process of updating and aligning
it with departmental business plans.[215]
Additional milestones would be included in a revised Carbon
Plan, which was due "very soon".[216]
The Government was also "reviewing its approach to the quarterly
monitoring process, and planned to resume publication of a revised
form of report in the coming months".[217]
63. Nevertheless, because the Carbon Plan
has not been updated since 2011, the impact on emissions reductions
of changes in policies is not evident. For revised estimates,
reference must be made to the Updated Energy and Emissions
Projections. The CCC's progress reports also provide an assessment
of whether policies will deliver sufficient emissions reduction,
but this does not follow the format of the Carbon Plan
nor report systematically against all Carbon Plan policies
in an easily identifiable way. Instead the CCC provides an assessment
against its own "indicator framework" of policy outcomes.[218]
For example, the Carbon Plan does not specify a required
take-up rate of energy efficient appliances, nor any explicit
policies to drive that, whereas this is an indicator against which
the CCC measure progress.[219]
Figure 4 illustrates the extent to which progress can be monitored
through the various documents, using the Government's Smart Metering
policy as a case study.
Figure 4:
Documents used to measure progress against the carbon budgets

64. There are also differences between the CCC's
indicators and the commitments made in the Carbon Plan,
even when they cover similar initiatives. For example, the CCC's
indicator of "insulation of all lofts and cavity walls by
2015" is more stringent than the commitment in the Carbon
Plan to do this by 2020 (paragraph 49).[220]
More fundamentally, there was disagreement between the CCC and
the Government's Plan on the number of lofts that require
insulation6 million and 200,000 respectively. The CCC appeared
to be counting lofts not yet insulated and those without inadequate
insulation, whereas the Government was only counting the former.
The Minister believed that the "challenge now is not to pretend
that there are lots more easy-to-treat lofts out there ... we
have done extremely well and are close to declaring victory".
He saw "diminishing returns" after the "first six
inches of loft insulation is installed.[221]
The CCC has commissioned work to resolve the difference in measurements
and this would feed into a Cabinet Office-commissioned review
of the Green Deal and ECO, due to report at the end of the year.[222]
The Minister did not see "a huge problem" with the CCC
and Government measuring progress using different indicators:
it was "just a difference of emphasis". He saw the CCC's
report as "guidance and a critique" and "not the
only way to achieve these objectives". The Government would
make its "full response" to the CCC's fifth progress
report "after proper analysis" in October.[223]
65. Apart from a disconnection between the various
planning and reporting documents, described above, there are also
gaps in the governance arrangements for the carbon budgets. In
our earlier report we criticised the Government for abandoning
the previous Departmental Carbon Budgeting regime. Under that
system, most departments were assigned a share of the carbon budgets
based on the economic sectors within their sphere of influence
to encourage them to come forward with sectoral policies to reduce
emissions.[224] In
response the Government argued that that approach "lacked
credibility across Whitehall" as "departments did not
feel able to influence the sector emissions they were held accountable
for". Now "departments have the freedom to come forward
and agree on future cost-effective abatement measures".[225]
David Kennedy told us that one of the problems with holding departments
to account was a reluctance "to commit to specific numbers
for overall emissions reductions and within that for the key measures".
Unless there was a "strategy and governance framework that
has clear objectives that are measurable", it would be difficult
to measure success or failure, and there would be a "risk
of muddling through".[226]
66. The cross-government National Emissions Target
(NET) Board is the "principal governance mechanism for coordinating
action across Government and ensuring that departments are accountable
for their share of emissions reductions".[227]
Chaired by the DECC Permanent Secretary, its membership included
officials from five key departments[228],
together with the Treasury and the Cabinet Office. [229]
The NAO told us that it met "irregularly and not as frequently
as it intended", meeting only seven times in the last three
years, and with civil servants below Director General level typically
in attendance. Minutes of board meetings "do not show evidence
of the Board taking action to hold departments to account"
for progress against individual policies in the Carbon Plan.[230]
Although the gap in policies to meet the fourth carbon budget
(paragraph 28) has been identified for some time, the NET Board
was only starting to undertake a programme of reviews to look
at new policies.[231]
David Kennedy told us that he was unaware of what the NET Board
did or how it operated. There was no communication between the
NET Board and the CCC.[232]
67. The Minister told us that the work of the Board
"revolves around the work to be done". It escalated
issues and resolved "disputes" between government departments,
and if there were none then "there is no real need to meet".
Once the fourth carbon budget had been set "there was less
work for them to do in terms of requiring new policy". He
expected more meetings of the Board in the run up to the review
of the fourth carbon budget in 2014 (paragraph 27) and the setting
of the fifth carbon budget in 2016.[233]
68. Arrangements for managing and reporting progress
against the carbon budgets have not been working as intended and
improvements are needed to enhance transparency. The Carbon
Plan is out of date and requires revision to reflect the changes
to policies and departmental business plans since 2011. The document
appears to be intended to meet a legal requirement of the Climate
Change Act rather than designed to play a meaningful role in managing
the carbon budgets. The CCC and the Government use different indicators
to measure progress, making it difficult to form an independent
assessment of the sufficiency of policies to cut emissions. The
National Emissions Target Boardthe main oversight bodyhas
met infrequently and there is limited evidence that it is holding
departments to account for their progress. The recession-driven
out-performance of early carbon budgets increases the risk that
these deficiencies will continue unchecked. We recommend that:
- The Carbon Plan be updated
on an annual basis, after the Government reflects on the Committee
on Climate Change's annual progress report.
- Changes to policies, and the impact on
emissions abatement expected, be spelt out in the updated Carbon
Plan. Revised estimates of emissions reductions from all policies
should be included as an annex.
- The Government report progress on a quarterly
basis against all milestones in the Carbon Plan. Any delays that
might materially affect the UK meeting the carbon budgets should
be explained.
- The National Emissions Target Board convene
regularly. It should actively monitor performance of policies
in reducing emissions, and take explicit account of the CCC's
progress reports. The Board must take control of identifying the
new policies and incentives needed in the next two years to get
the UK on track to meet the third and fourth carbon budget.
Role of local authorities
69. In our earlier report on carbon budgets we found
that the Government's voluntary approach to securing local emissions
reductions was insufficient. We recommended that local authorities
be required to set emission reduction targets, with progress against
these being reported to Ministers each year.[234]
The Government disagreed, but commissioned the CCC to provide
advice on how local authorities can be encouraged to show leadership
and responsibility in reducing emissions and how their performance
could be benchmarked.[235]
70. The CCC reported in May 2012 that local authorities
planned only a "low level of action" to reduce emissions,
even though there was "significant scope" for them to
influence emissions reductions in buildings, transport and waste.[236]
The constrained fiscal situation and localism meant that "incentives"
to act needed strengthening. The CCC did not think it appropriate
for local authorities to be set binding targets because not all
drivers of emissions were within their control. Instead, it recommended
that a statutory duty be placed on them to draw up low-carbon
plans which include a high level of ambition for emissions reductions[237]
and increased funding being made available.[238]
71. The Government thought it "unnecessary"
to respond formally to the CCC's recommendations as "the
ball is in the court of the local authorities". A statutory
duty to develop and implement low carbon plans would be "prescriptive".
Instead, local authorities would be "empowered" to "take
the initiative that is best for their areas". The Government
was working with the larger local authorities, particularly cities,
to help them voluntarily develop their own low-carbon plans.[239]
Conversely, the Government has been prescriptive in its recent
planning practice guidance on how local authorities should consider
planning applications for onshore oil and gas activities, including
'fracking'. It has set out what local planners should consider,
explicitly stating that "demand for, or alternatives to,
oil and gas activities" should not be considered.[240]
72. DECC asks local authorities to measure and report
their emissions, allowing aggregated data to be published online,[241]
but not all authorities comply[242]
and the reporting methodology allows for "significant
variation" on what emissions are included. This made assessing
progress and making comparisons difficult.[243]
The Minister told us that the number of authorities reporting
was "not proportionate to the overall percentage of emissions
that they cover".[244]
Such a claim is difficult to verify when not all local authorities
report. The CCC planned to look in detail at this area as part
of its progress report next year.[245]
73. Local authorities have an important role to
play in driving down emissions, particularly those from buildings,
transport and waste. However, there is a significant risk of inaction
because of authorities' constrained fiscal position and the Government's
decision not to implement the Committee on Climate Change's recommendation
to place a statutory duty on local authorities to produce low-carbon
plans. The Government should reconsider placing a statutory
duty on local authorities to produce low-carbon plans for their
area and work to ensure that all local authorities are measuring
and reporting on their emissions.
148 Projections were last published in October 2011:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/65717/6660-updated-emissions-projections-october-2012.pdf Back
149
The Government is required to lay before Parliament a final statement
for the first budgetary period by 31 May 2014. Back
150
Q 77 Back
151
Environmental Audit Committee, Fourth Special Report of Session
2010-12, Carbon Budgets: Government Response to the Committee's
Seventh Report of Session 2010-12, HC 1720, [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmenvaud/1720/1720.pdf]. Back
152
Committee on Climate Change, Meeting Carbon Budgets - 2013
Progress Report to Parliament, June 2013, [http://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/CCC-Prog-Rep-Book_singles_web_1.pdf]. Back
153
"The relatively cold winter months compared with 2011, which
led to increased heating demand; and switching from use of gas
to coal in power generation, which we can expect to be reversed
as tighter environmental regulation to improve air quality takes
effect". Back
154
Committee on Climate Change, Meeting Carbon Budgets-2013 Progress
Report to Parliament, June 2013, [http://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/CCC-Prog-Rep-Book_singles_web_1.pdf]. Back
155
Q 79 Back
156
Qq 152-154, 187 Back
157
Committee on Climate Change, Meeting carbon budgets-the need
for a step change, October 2009, [http://archive.theccc.org.uk/aws2/21667%20CCC%20Report%20AW%20WEB.pdf]. Back
158
Committee on Climate Change, Meeting carbon budgets-ensuring
a low-carbon recovery, June 2010, [http://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/meeting-carbon-budgets-ensuring-a-low-carbon-recovery-2nd-progress-report/]. Back
159
Committee on Climate Change, Meeting carbon budget-third progress
report to Parliament, June 2011, [http://archive.theccc.org.uk/aws/Progress%202011/CCC_Progress%20Report%202011%20Single%20Page%20no%20buttons_1.pdf]. Back
160
Committee on Climate Change, Meeting carbon budgets-2012 progress
report to Parliament, June 2012, [http://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/CCC_Progress-Rep-2012_bookmarked_singles_2.pdf]. Back
161
Committee on Climate Change, Meeting Carbon Budgets-2013 Progress
Report to Parliament, June 2013, [http://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/CCC-Prog-Rep-Book_singles_web_1.pdf]. Back
162
Q 82 Back
163
Meeting Carbon Budgets - 2013 Progress Report to Parliament,
op cit. Back
164
Q 77 [David Kennedy]; Meeting Carbon Budgets - 2013 Progress
Report to Parliament, op cit. Back
165
Qq 77, 139 [David Kennedy]; Meeting Carbon Budgets - 2013 Progress
Report to Parliament, op cit. Back
166
Ev 57 Back
167
Qq 155, 194 Back
168
Q 155 [Ben Golding] Back
169
HM Government, The Carbon Plan: Delivering our low carbon future,
December 2011, page 33, [https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/47613/3702-the-carbon-plan-delivering-our-low-carbon-future.pdf]. Back
170
http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/environmental-audit-committee/inquiries/ Back
171
Ev w1 Back
172
CERT (Carbon Emission Reduction Target) & CESP (Community
Energy Saving Programme). Back
173
Qq 95, 116 Back
174
Meeting Carbon Budgets-2013 Progress Report to Parliament,
op cit. Back
175
Data on Green Deal is up to 16 June 2013 and between January and
April 2013 for the ECO. Back
176
Loft insulation - 56% of all ECO measures, cavity wall insulation
- 33%, and boiler upgrades - 10%: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/209097/Statistical_Release_-_Green_Deal_and_Energy_Company_Obligation_in_Great_Britain_-_Mid-June_2013.pdf
Back
177
In March 2013 the Minister predicted that 10,000 households would
be signed up to the scheme by the end of the year. Back
178
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/household-bills/10145604/Green-Deal-No-homes-benefit-six-months-after-launch.html
Back
179
"Green Deal: No homes benefit six months after launch, The
Telegraph, 27 June 2013, [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/household-bills/10145604/Green-Deal-No-homes-benefit-six-months-after-launch.html].
Back
180
Energy efficiency measures installed in the property and loan
repayment information attached to the household's energy bill. Back
181
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/230138/Statistical_Release_-_Green_Deal_and_Energy_Company_Obligation_in_Great_Britain_-_20_August_2013.pdf
Back
182
For example, a homeowner is required to insulate their loft and
cavity walls when extending their home. Back
183
Qq 201,202 Back
184
Oral evidence taken before the Energy and Climate Change Committee,
2 July 2013, HC 554-1, [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmenergy/uc554-i/uc554.pdf].
Back
185
Committee on Climate Change, Next steps on Electricity Market
Reform - securing the benefits of low-carbon investment, May
2013, [http://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/1720_EMR_report_web.pdf]. Back
186
Meeting Carbon Budgets - 2013 Progress Report to Parliament,
op cit. Back
187
Q 77; The Levy Control Framework is used by the Government to
oversee and control costs of schemes funded by levies on consumers'
energy bills, such as the Renewables Obligation and Feed-In Tariffs. Back
188
Committee on Climate Change, Meeting Carbon Budgets - 2013
Progress Report to Parliament, June 2013, [http://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/CCC-Prog-Rep-Book_singles_web_1.pdf]. Back
189
Q 122 Back
190
ibid Back
191
Meeting Carbon Budgets - 2013 Progress Report to Parliament,
op cit. Back
192
Q 121; Meeting Carbon Budgets -2013 Progress Report to Parliament,
op cit. Back
193
"If plant on the system were dispatched so as to minimise
emissions while still maintaining security of supply (i.e. if
gas-fired plant were dispatched before coal-fired plant whenever
technically possible), carbon intensity would fall by 41% from
531 to 315 gCO2/ kWh, at minimal additional cost to the consumer":
Meeting Carbon Budgets - 2013 Progress Report to Parliament,
op cit. Back
194
http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/environmental-audit-committee/inquiries/parliament-2010/green-finance/
Back
195
Q 157 Back
196
Environmental Audit Committee, Sixth Report of Session 2012-13,
Energy Intensive Industries Compensation Scheme, HC 669,
[http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmenvaud/669/669.pdf]. Back
197
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/175480/bis-13-748-uk-oil-and-gas-industrial-strategy.pdf Back
198
Environmental Audit Committee, Fourth Report of Session 2012-13,
Autumn Statement 2012: environmental issues, HC 328, [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmenvaud/328/328.pdf].
Ev w29 Back
199
Energy Bill 2013-14 as introduced can be found here: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2013-2014/0004/2014004.pdf
Back
200
HC Deb, 4 June 2013, Col 1441. Back
201
HC Deb, 4 June 2013, Col 1403. Back
202
Q 213 Back
203
http://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Ed-Davey-February13.pdf
Back
204
Q 123 Back
205
They are long lived and have between 140 and 23,900 times more
greenhouse warming potential than CO2: Meeting Carbon Budgets
- 2013 Progress Report to Parliament, op cit. Back
206
Meeting Carbon Budgets-2013 Progress Report to Parliament op
cit; Qq 111 - 113; Ev w41 Back
207
Under the Climate Change Act 2008, the Government must publish
a plan setting out proposals and policies for meeting the carbon
budgets. Back
208
Qq 98, 100 Back
209
Required by Section 16 of the Climate Change Act. Final UK-wide
emissions data for the calendar year from two years previously
is provided, alongside provisional data for the latest year. The
most recent of which was published in March 2013 for the calendar
year 2011: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/167920/annual_statement_of_emissions_2011.pdf Back
210
By 31 May in the second year following the end of the budgetary
period. Back
211
The latest updated Annual Energy and Emissions Projections were
published in October 2012. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/65717/6660-updated-emissions-projections-october-2012.pdf.
For the period 2012 to 2022, the projections show how the Government
expects its "clearly defined suite of policies to reduce
emissions to meet the first three carbon budgets" to perform.
The projections for the period 2023 onwards provide the Government's
estimate of what would happen "in the absence of any additional
policy effort i.e. no new policies or extensions to existing policies"
- thus providing as assessment of the additional policy effort
needed to meet the fourth carbon budget. Back
212
National Audit Office, Carbon budget management, July 2013,
[http://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Briefing-for-the-Environmental-Audit-Committee_Carbon-Budget-Management1.pdf]. Back
213
DECC, Defra, DfT, CLG and BIS. Carbon budget management,
op cit. Back
214
Of the 73 milestones for delivery at the end of third quarter
of 2012, progress was only reported on 34. DECC had "not
produced quarterly reports for the last quarter of 2012 and the
first quarter of 2013": Carbon budget management,
op cit. Back
215
Q 188 [Ben Golding] Back
216
Q 190 [Ben Golding] Back
217
Carbon budget management, op cit. Back
218
These include quantitative and qualitative headline and supporting
indicators, and may not flow from, or be reflective of, policies
or ambitions set out in the Carbon Plan. Back
219
One of the CCC's indicators in the residential areas is "58%
of the stock of wet appliances rated A+ or better and 45% of cold
appliances rated A++ or better by 2022". Back
220
Committee on Climate Change, Meeting Carbon Budgets - 2013
Progress Report to Parliament, June 2013, [http://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/CCC-Prog-Rep-Book_singles_web_1.pdf].
HM Government, The Carbon Plan: Delivering our low carbon future,
December 2011, page 33, [https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/47613/3702-the-carbon-plan-delivering-our-low-carbon-future.pdf]. Back
221
Qq 184, 205, 207 Back
222
Qq 114-116 Back
223
Q 155 Back
224
Environmental Audit Committee, Seventh Report of Session 2010-12,
Carbon Budgets, HC 1080, [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmenvaud/1080/1080.pdf]. Back
225
Ev 57 Back
226
Q 98 Back
227
Ev 57 Back
228
DECC, Defra, DfT, CLG and BIS. Back
229
National Audit Office, Carbon budget management, July 2013,
[http://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Briefing-for-the-Environmental-Audit-Committee_Carbon-Budget-Management1.pdf]. Back
230
There was also no evidence that the wider actions of government
departments, outside of Carbon Plan, that might increase
or decrease carbon emissions were considered. Back
231
Carbon budget management, op cit. Back
232
Qq 105-107 Back
233
Qq 191, 193 Back
234
Carbon Budgets, op cit, pages 25-27. Back
235
Environmental Audit Committee, Fourth Special Report of Session
2010-12, Carbon Budgets: Government Response to the Committee's
Seventh Report of Session 2010-12, HC 1720, page 9, [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmenvaud/1720/1720.pdf];
Committee on Climate Change, How local authorities can reduce
emissions and manage climate risks, May 2012, [http://archive.theccc.org.uk/aws/Local%20Authorites/1584_CCC_LA%20Report_bookmarked_1b.pdf]. Back
236
Other opportunities include: promoting sustainable surface travel
and facilitating take up of low-carbon vehicles, providing increased
recycling and promoting waste to energy schemes, promote local
carbon energy generation by granting planning approval to offshore
wind projects, and reducing own estate emissions. Back
237
20% reduction across buildings, transport, and waste by 2020 relative
to 2010 levels. Back
238
How local authorities can reduce emissions and manage climate
risks, op cit. Back
239
Qq 223 - 226 [Greg Barker] Back
240
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/224238/Planning_practice_guidance_for_onshore_oil_and_gas.pdf
Back
241
https://www.gov.uk/sharing-information-on-greenhouse-gas-emissions-from-local-authority-own-estate-and-operations-previously-ni-185
Back
242
Around 200 out of 353 local authorities reported emissions data
in 2010-11. Back
243
Meeting Carbon Budgets-2013 Progress Report to Parliament,
op cit. Back
244
Q 227 Back
245
Q 149 Back
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