The government's climate change advisory body has today said its recommendations regarding the UK's fifth emissions reduction target remain the same - despite the global emissions reduction deal struck in Paris in December.
In a letter to Energy and Climate Change Secretary Amber Rudd, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) said the proposals it made in November for the UK's fifth carbon budget - which will set out the emissions reduction needed between 2028 and 2032 - remain unchanged at 57 per cent CO2 equivalent below 1990 levels.
"The [Paris] Agreement, combined with requirements under the Climate Change Act, make it clear that this is the minimum level of UK ambition necessary," the letter reads. "Our judgement is that our existing recommendation is sufficient at this time, although a tighter budget may be needed in future."
The CCC noted that the Paris deal aims to limit global temperature rise to "well below" 2C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5C - a more ambitious target than the "close to 2C" limit that forms the basis of the current UK targets. However, the CCC said the proposed fifth budget remains in line with a cost-effective path to the UK's 2050 target, while also exceeding the UK's likely obligation under the current EU 2030 package.
It did note, however, that if the EU budget is changed the UK budget could need to be tightened - and urged the government to push for a revised EU pledge more in line with global ambition.
"The CCC have prioritised securing delivery of an adequate target, not pushing for maximum ambition for UK carbon budgets," said Matthew Spencer, director of Green Alliance. "They're leaving no room for manoeuvre for the government to relax the budget they recommended."
The letter also pushed for the government to set out new plans and policies to meet its current carbon budget, and pointed to the need to quickly develop a new approach to carbon capture and storage (CCS) in light of the Tories' recent reneging on a manifesto commitment to put £1bn into a CCS commercialisation programme.
"CCS has a crucial role to play in cost-effective decarbonisation," the letter said. "Our estimates, and those of others, suggest the cost of meeting the 2050 target would be twice as high without CCS. It is also vital to meeting the longer-term global goal of reaching net zero (possible negative) emissions."
The letter further pointed to the need for effective action on growing emissions from international transport, which was not explicitly mentioned in the Paris deal or the UK's carbon budgets but will massively impact attempts to limit global temperature rise.
Richard Black, director of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), said the Committee's decision not to recommend a change in the fifth carbon budget is "clearly sensible", but pointed to the recent cancellations of multiple climate policies that could hinder the UK from meeting even its current budget.
"[T]he Committee also pointed out that we currently have little idea how this government intends to reduce emissions, let alone ensure energy security; having spent its first six months emptying the energy policy cupboard, it has yet to re-stock and thereby give investors the confidence they need to get us back on track," he said in a statement.
The carbon budgets are set in law as a way to ensure progress is being made towards the UK's long-term target of an 80 per cent reduction in emissions by 2050 compared to 1990 levels. The UK is currently striving to achieve its second carbon budget of a 29 per cent reduction on 1990 levels between 2013 and 2017.
This article is part of BusinessGreen's Road to Paris hub, hosted in association with PwC.
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