UK Inquiry Tracker

Achieving Net Zero

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 17 Dec 2020 Closed: 17 May 2021 Parliament page

In June 2019, government committed in law to achieving ‘net zero’ greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, to deliver on the commitments it made in signing the Paris Agreement in 2016. Government also aimed to set an example for other countries to follow in the run-up to hosting the 26th United … Read more In June 2019, government committed in law to achieving ‘net zero’ greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, to deliver on the commitments it made in signing the Paris Agreement in 2016. Government also aimed to set an example for other countries to follow in the run-up to hosting the 26th United Nations’ Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), now due to take place in Glasgow in November 2021, having been postponed from November 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Aiming for net zero represents an increase in the level of ambition from government’s previous 2008 emissions reduction target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80%, compared with 1990 levels, by 2050. Between 2008 and 2018, the UK’s emissions reduced by 28%, faster than any other G20 economy. The NAO has recently described reducing emissions further, to achieve net zero, as a “colossal challenge” that will require wide-ranging changes to the UK economy, including further investment in renewable electricity generation, as well as changing the way people travel, how land is used and how buildings are heated. The UK’s emissions are currently projected to exceed government’s targets for the years 2023 to 2027 and 2028 to 2032, though government plans to announce policies aimed at closing these gaps. Even faster progress is needed to get to net zero by 2050, including changes to the way electricity is generated, how people travel, how land is used and how buildings are heated. The costs of achieving net zero are highly uncertain. The Climate Change Committee estimated in 2019 that the annual costs of achieving net zero could increase over time, to around 1-2% of GDP in 2050. BEIS is developing its own estimates of what net zero will cost between now and 2050, with this likely to be hundreds of billions of pounds. HM Treasury will investigate how these costs could fall between government, businesses and individuals, as part of a review which will conclude in 2021. However, the costs of inaction would be far greater because of the need to adapt to substantial climate change, such as building flood defences and dealing with the health impacts of higher temperatures. The Climate Change Committee has suggested there are also wider benefits of achieving net zero, such as improvements to human health and enhanced biodiversity. This inquiry will build on the Committee’s work on how well Government is organised to deliver long term environmental goals . The Committee will question senior officials at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and the Treasury, on plans and readiness to achieve net zero by 2050. If you have evidence on these issues, please submit it here by 6pm on Thursday 21 January 2021. Show less

9 Recommendations

14 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Oral session

3 Letters

1 Event

Activity timeline 6 events

18 Nov
2021

Correspondence

Correspondence from Steve Field Director, Climate, Energy and Environment, HM Treasury, re written update on the Net Zero Announcement at A…

31 Aug
2021

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Forty-sixth report from Session 2019-21

18 May
2021

Correspondence

Correspondence from Tom Scholar, Permanent Secretary, HM Treasury, re Forty Sixth report of session 2019-2021 – Achieving Net Zero

5 Mar
2021

Report published

Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net Zero

23 Feb
2021

Correspondence

Correspondence from Sarah Munby, Permanent Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, re Response …

28 Jan
2021

Oral evidence

Achieving Net Zero

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

28 Jan 2021

View on parliament.uk

Achieving Net Zero

Julian Critchlow · Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Sarah Munby · Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Steve Field · HM Treasury

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net Zero	HC 935	5 Mar 2021	23	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

13 results

2 Recommendation Accepted

Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net…

The Department is not yet reporting on the programmes across government that are crucial to...

The Department is not yet reporting on the programmes across government that are crucial to the delivery of net zero in a way that enables Parliament or the public to scrutinise progress. In early 2019, government established new arrangements for … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees and will set out in more detail the metrics it will track towards net zero as part of its comprehensive Net Zero Strategy by Winter 2021, building on existing annual projections.

HM Treasury

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4 Recommendation Accepted

Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net…

Government does not have a clear way of determining whether its actions to reduce emissions...

Government does not have a clear way of determining whether its actions to reduce emissions in the UK are transferring emissions to other countries. The net zero target applies to emissions generated within the UK and does not include emissions … Read more

Government Response

The government accepts the recommendation and commits to a cross-government work programme on carbon leakage, further analysis in the Net Zero Review, a review of the UK ETS, and developing proposals for embodied emissions data transparency with a future call for evidence.

HM Treasury

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5 Recommendation Accepted

Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net…

Government has not adequately communicated to the general public the changes that individuals will need...

Government has not adequately communicated to the general public the changes that individuals will need to make in the transition to net zero emissions. Achieving Net Zero 7 Achieving net zero will depend on individuals choosing to change their behaviour, … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees and plans to set out more detail on its approach to public engagement on net zero, including communication coordination, as part of the forthcoming Net Zero Strategy by Autumn 2021.

HM Treasury

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6 Recommendation Accepted

Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net…

The Department has not sufficiently engaged with local authorities on their role in the achievement...

The Department has not sufficiently engaged with local authorities on their role in the achievement of net zero across the UK. Local authorities have significant scope to influence emissions in their area, both by leading decarbonisation of sectors (such as … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees and will provide a clearer statement of national, regional, and local responsibilities and how it will work with local authorities to deliver Net Zero, as part of the Net Zero Strategy by Autumn 2021.

HM Treasury

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7 Conclusion Accepted

Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net…

The government originally planned to publish many of its strategies during 2020.

The government originally planned to publish many of its strategies during 2020. Publication was later than it previously intended, partly because of reprioritisation of Government activity in response to the coronavirus crisis.9 For example, the publication of the Heat and … Read more The government originally planned to publish many of its strategies during 2020. Publication was later than it previously intended, partly because of reprioritisation of Government activity in response to the coronavirus crisis.9 For example, the publication of the Heat and Buildings strategy was delayed from August 2020 and is yet to be published. Publication of the Fuel Poverty strategy was similarly delayed from April 2020 and did not publish until to February 2021.10 The Department told us that it would like to have published many of the sector strategies months earlier than they were likely to be published. It asserted that it was now in a good place to publish them and expected the strategies to be stronger as a result of the delay and would reflect a greater degree of political commitment. It accepted that the strategies would need to be clear, and provide detail, about the policies, timing and process that underpinned them. It told us that this particularly applied for high-emitting sectors including buildings, transport and industry. We asked the Department when the strategies were now due to be published and to provide a publication programme for the next 12 months. The Department would not provide details of the months that it planned to publish the individual strategies, asserting that it would ‘put them out at the right time, when they are ready’. It told us it expected the Heat and Building strategy and the fuel poverty strategy very soon, followed by the industrial decarbonisation, hydrogen and transport strategies. It expected to publish the 5 Q 8; C&AG’s Report, para 1, 1-2-1.4 6 Q 6; GOV.UK, Press release, UK sets ambitious new climate target head of UN Summit, 3 December 2020 7 Q 7; C&AG’s Report, para 1.10; Climate Change Committee, The Sixth Carbon Budget, The UK’s path to net zero, December 2020, page 13 8 Qq 6-8; C&AG’s Report, paras 6-7, 3.26 9 Q 18; C&AG’s Report, para 3.2, Figure 9 10 C&AG’s Report, Figure 9; Department for Business, Energy Show less

Government Response

The government agrees, stating it is making progress on sector strategies and will publish a comprehensive Net Zero Strategy, bringing all plans together, ahead of COP26 in Autumn 2021.

HM Treasury

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12 Conclusion Accepted

Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net…

The Treasury’s Green Book guidance requires all policy, programme and project proposals to consider environment...

The Treasury’s Green Book guidance requires all policy, programme and project proposals to consider environment and climate impacts, including UK greenhouse gas emissions. The Department noted that this was another means by which the compatibility of departments’ decisions with net … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees, noting that Spending Review 2020 guidance required departments to include greenhouse gas emissions in bids, and HMT is reviewing this learning, keeping these issues as a priority for 2021.

HM Treasury

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15 Conclusion Accepted

Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net…

Limiting global temperature rises to reduce the climate change impacts will require a global reduction...

Limiting global temperature rises to reduce the climate change impacts will require a global reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The net zero target applies to emissions generated in the UK and does not include emissions generated in the production of … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the implied recommendation on carbon leakage, stating it is jointly leading a cross-government work programme, developing an analytical framework, and will explore opportunities to provide more transparency on imported emissions by Winter 2021, with further proposals and a call for evidence planned for 2021-22.

HM Treasury

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16 Recommendation Accepted

Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net…

We asked how the Department would ensure that the impact of the UK’s progress towards...

We asked how the Department would ensure that the impact of the UK’s progress towards net zero would not inadvertently result in higher emissions elsewhere. The 23 Q 45 24 Q 62 25 Q 54; C&AG’s Report, para 2.13 26 … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the recommendation and is leading a cross-government work programme with HMT to develop an analytical framework and assess mitigation measures for carbon leakage. It will also explore opportunities to improve transparency of imported emissions data and develop proposals for product standards and embodied emissions data transparency, with a call for evidence planned.

HM Treasury

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17 Conclusion Accepted

Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net…

We asked about the feasibility of a tax based on carbon embedded in imports (a...

We asked about the feasibility of a tax based on carbon embedded in imports (a carbon border adjustment tax) to reduce the risk of pushing emissions abroad. The Treasury told us that it was considering this as part of its … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the implied recommendation to address carbon leakage, stating it is jointly leading a work programme with HMT, developing an analytical framework, and will explore opportunities for greater transparency, with further proposals and a call for evidence planned for 2021-22.

HM Treasury

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18 Conclusion Accepted

Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net…

Achieving net zero will depend on people changing their habits and lifestyles, adopting new technologies,...

Achieving net zero will depend on people changing their habits and lifestyles, adopting new technologies, and in some cases big personal investments. For example, buying zero- emission vehicles, such as electric vehicles, instead of cars that run on petrol or … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the recommendation to develop a public engagement strategy within the next 12 months, stating it plans to set out more detail on its approach, including coordinated communications, as part of the forthcoming Net Zero Strategy by Autumn 2021.

HM Treasury

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19 Recommendation Accepted

Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net…

We asked the Department what it was doing to ensure the step change needed by...

We asked the Department what it was doing to ensure the step change needed by members of the public to achieve net zero and how it was communicating to people about the decisions or changes they needed to make and … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the recommendation and plans to develop a public engagement strategy that coordinates communications, with a target implementation date of Autumn 2021, and will set out more detail as part of the forthcoming Net Zero Strategy.

HM Treasury

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21 Recommendation Accepted

Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net…

Local authorities have a key role to play in achieving net zero.

Local authorities have a key role to play in achieving net zero. They have significant scope to influence emissions in their area, for example, by leading decarbonisation of sectors such as housing and transport. These represent a substantial proportion of … Read more

Government Response

The government accepts the recommendation, agreeing there should be a clearer statement of national, regional, and local responsibilities and how it will work with local authorities, to be provided in the forthcoming Net Zero Strategy.

HM Treasury

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22 Recommendation Accepted

Forty-Sixth Report - Achieving Net…

In written evidence, the LGA told us that there was a long-term funding gap in...

In written evidence, the LGA told us that there was a long-term funding gap in government’s ambitions to decarbonise housing. In February 2020, the LGA’s Climate Change Survey 2020 found that nine out of 10 councils had declared a climate … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the recommendation and will provide a more comprehensive statement on national, regional, and local responsibilities, and how it proposes to work with local authorities to deliver Net Zero, as part of the forthcoming Net Zero Strategy by Autumn 2021.

HM Treasury

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Government Response AI assessment · 21 of 9 classified

Accepted 13

Acknowledged 6

Not Addressed 2

Total 9 recs + 14 conclusions

Correspondence 3 letters

18 Nov 2021 Correspondence from Steve Field Director, Climate, Energy and Environment, HM Treasury, re written update on the Net Zero Announcement at Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, dated 16 November 2021

Parliament page

18 May 2021 Correspondence from Tom Scholar, Permanent Secretary, HM Treasury, re Forty Sixth report of session 2019-2021 – Achieving Net Zero

Parliament page

23 Feb 2021 Correspondence from Sarah Munby, Permanent Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, re Response to the Committee regarding January 28 ‘Achieving Net Zero’ Public Account Committee hearing / New licences in regard to the cutting of emissions in half by 2030, dated 10th February 2021

Parliament page