Blueprint Coalition urges UK Government U-turn on net zero commitments

The Blueprint Coalition is calling on the UK Government to retain its net zero commitments following Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s policy U-turn.

As a leading partnership of local government, environmental and research organisations, the Blueprint Coalition is urging the UK Government to fulfil its net zero commitments, stating that reversing current policies will damage essential climate action and hurt local economies.

Ashok Sinha, CEO of Ashden Climate Solutions, commented: “Reversing policies announced less than two years ago in the Government’s Net Zero strategy will jeopardise the ambitious local climate action plans of councils across the country.

“Progress towards net zero is already too slow and patchy, as highlighted by the Committee for Climate Change and in our own progress tracker published last winter. Moving the goalposts now will simply make hitting 2050 net zero targets more difficult and costly.”

What is the Blueprint Coalition calling for?

The Blueprint Coalition has published multiple joint policy reports in which the group’s environmental practitioners and experts have outlined how local Government is critical in reaching net zero targets.

The Coalition has also highlighted essential national policy levers for unlocking cost-effective, rapid local progress on net zero and tracked government progress on delivering these.

Ann Carruthers, 1st Vice President of ADEPT, explained: “Local authorities are committed to climate action but need targeted support. The Government’s own Skidmore Review argued that localised, place-based measures are more effective and provide better value than a top-down, siloed approach.

“It has been clearly demonstrated that investment in net zero is an economic opportunity rather than simply a cost. Backtracking on targets doesn’t show pragmatism but rather a lack of leadership. It sends confusing messages to businesses and consumers.

“Failing to invest in the economic future of local places goes against the clear policies that key industries need to plan their investment and create the jobs of the future.”

Aims for the 2024 General Election

Additionally, the Blueprint Coalition has published a set of Manifesto Asks ahead of the General Election in 2024.

These highlight the commitments the political parties must make to enable local places to decarbonise around the UK and to protect their communities’ jobs, livelihoods and health from climate change.

Dr Candice Howarth, Head of Local Climate Action at LSE’s Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and Co-Director of the Place-Based Climate Action Network, added: “The evidence is clear – the environmental, human and economic costs of climate change are already being felt at the local, regional and national levels, and will only continue to increase.

“The record-breaking temperatures, over 40°, experienced in the UK for the first time in 2022 are a preview of what is to come if urgent action isn’t taken, and our research has shown that the UK is not prepared for these events.

“We urgently need to ramp up efforts to transition to a green economy if we are to protect local economies, jobs and livelihoods, reduce the shocks of the climate crisis on household budgets, and safeguard people’s health.

“This is the only pragmatic and responsible course of action, and it is too important to play politics with. Rather than scaling back ambition and targets, the UK government needs to go further than what it has already committed.

“That is why our cross-sector Coalition will continue to call on all parties to urgently recommit to key targets on climate, emissions reductions, energy, housing, transport and waste reduction.”

Scrapping energy efficiency plans

One of the most controversial of the UK’s net zero policy changes involves energy efficiency, with the government planning to drop energy-efficiency targets for private rented homes.

Speaking on the announcement, Don McLean, CEO and founder of climate tech firm IES, said: “We are already at breaking point and need to accelerate our efforts if we are to have any chance of tackling climate change, so now Rishi Sunak is backtracking on several key Net Zero policies, the future impact will be catastrophic.

“Plans to drop new energy-efficiency targets for private rented homes will serve as a major blockade to the decarbonisation of the built environment, which is recognised as the largest source of climate emissions after surface transport. And while it may save landlords money not to have to pay to upgrade the energy efficiency of their properties, it is their tenants who will suffer.

“Homes with poor energy efficiency ratings use and waste more energy, the costs of which remain sky-high amid a cost of living crisis. Occupant comfort will be put on the back burner, leaving tenants with homes that are harder to heat due to poor insulation in the winter months or at risk of overheating during the record hot summers we have witnessed in recent years.

“It seems the Prime Minister is taking the Conservative’s surprise Uxbridge by-election win due to backlash over ULEZ as a green light to tank a string of crucial Net Zero initiatives. As it currently stands, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) announced in their latest report that more urgency is required for the Government, not less, so it is incredibly disappointing that Mr Sunak may gamble with such high stakes.”