Tag: Net zero targets

 Counting on … day 56

29th February 2024

The Fourth Carbon Budget covers the years 2023 to 2027. Each Budget is created well in advance to allow organisations and companies to plan the necessary changes that the Budget will require. The Fourth Carbon Budget was approved by the Government 2011. The Budget proposals included the following sectors: international aviation and shipping, agriculture, surface and other transport, energy and power  supplies, industry, no residential (offices, shops etc). 

The Climate Change Committee regularly reviews and reports to Parliament its assessment as to whether the plans and legislation put in place by the government, the plans and progress being made by businesses, and the uptake of lifestyle changes being made by the population, are on track to meet the Budget targets.  

However drawing up a budget is often much harder easier than implementing one. 

In its last report made in June 2023, the Climate Change Committee reported: 

“A lack of urgency. While the policy framework has continued to develop over the past year, this is not happening at the required pace for future targets…

“Despite some positive steps to provide households with advice on reducing energy use in the last year, a coherent public engagement strategy on climate action is long overdue…

“Expansion of fossil fuel production is not in line with Net Zero. As well as pushing forward strongly with new low-carbon industries, Net Zero also makes it necessary to move away from high-carbon developments…

“The need for a framework to manage airport capacity. There has been continued airport expansion in recent years, counter to our assessment that there should be no net airport expansion across the UK.”

For more information see –https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/2023-progress-report-to-parliament/

In other words there is much to be done at all levels if we are to meet the Fourth Carbon Budget.

Counting on …. Day 1.127

14th July 2023

Having yesterday talked about tipping points and a succession of divestment announcements, it now appears that approvals for the Rosebank oil field may be delayed.

“Rosebank, the UK’s largest undeveloped oil and gas field, is highly unlikely to be approved in time for parliamentary recess, amid growing concerns from regulators over electrification and net zero compatibility across the industry.

“City A.M. understands the site, which has to be green-lit by the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (OPRED) and the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), is now not expected to be sanctioned until August at the earliest….

“When completed, Rosebank is expected to produce up to 500m barrels of oil and gas equivalent over its operating lifetime – which could begin as soon as 2027.  This has made the project the subject of intense controversy, with climate groups and energy transition advocates calling for the project to be rejected amid fears it would jeopardise the country’s climate ambitions. 

“City A.M. has learned that the NSTA has written directly to oil and gas companies operating in the North Sea, warning them of the importance of electrification for new offshore platforms across future projects…

“Regulators are determined for new developments, including oil and gas fields, to have a clear pathway for the green energy transition – as the UK races to reach net zero over the next three decades and decarbonise its electricity grid by 2035.” https://www.cityam.com/rosebank-faces-fresh-delay-amid-regulator-concerns-over-industry-net-zero-goals/

Counting on …. Day 1.155

30th June 2023

The Climate Change Committee has this week produced its annual Progress Report to Parliament – https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/2023-progress-report-to-parliament/

The CCC notes that whilst UK greenhouse gas emissions have  fallen 46% from 1990 levels this is well short of the 68% by 2030 target agreed at COP26. The reeducation in emissions will have to increase fourfold to meet this target.  

“Time is now very short to achieve this change of pace. Glimmers of the Net Zero transition can be seen in growing sales of new electric cars and the continued deployment of renewable capacity, but the scale up of action overall is worryingly slow. The Government continues to place their reliance on technological solutions that have not been deployed at scale, in preference to more straightforward encouragement of people to reduce high-carbon activities. The Committee has again flagged the risks of a policy programme that amongst other things is too slow to plant trees and roll-out heat pumps.”

Can we count on  this government and the next to fully address these issues? Can we increase the pressure on government and businesses to act? 

For further background on this – https://greentau.org/2023/05/30/green-tau-issue-70/

Counting on …day 1.110

4th May 2023

The WWF reports that “The UK Government has a black hole in its plan to cut GHG emissions from farming and to absorb more carbon in forests and peatlands… 

Analysis of new numbers released in a Freedom of Information request (FOI) from WWF against current government policy suggests that only around 40% of the cuts that the Net Zero Strategy says are needed by 2030 from farming and land are being delivered. Current policies for cutting emissions from land are far from on track, with peatland restoration rates and tree-planting falling well short of targets.  

This means the UK Government and devolved nations need to double the ambition of their plans for reducing emissions from UK land and farming if they are going to be on track for hitting climate targets in 2030 and beyond.”

For more info – https://www.wwf.org.uk/press-release/foi-requests-reveals-black-hole-government-plans

Counting on …. Day 1.105

29th April 2023

There is much disinformation around suggesting that either the climate crisis is not real/ not serious, or that the government is doing all that is necessary to contain the crisis. However this is not the case.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is in the process of producing a report which will detail how far or not the nations of the world are achieving the necessary reduction in carbon emissions to prevent global temperatures rising above the 1.5C tipping point. Their latest interim report says there has been “significant yet inadequate collective progress”.
What this means is that “[O]n both the cutting emissions and adaptating fronts, it says not only that the current plans are insufficient. But there are even problems in translating this inadequate ambition into real action, the so-called implementation gap.”

What is the global stocktake of climate action and why does it matter?