Ministers are “asleep at the wheel” over carbon emissions and a rapid overhaul of the planning system is needed, the government’s own climate advisers have said.
The Climate Change Committee said a “lost year” of British politics meant the country is set to fall short of its 2035 target to decarbonise the electricity grid. It blamed the lack of a coherent strategy and a regulatory and planning system unfit for the pace of change needed.
Lord Deben, a former environment secretary and the group’s chair, said: “Government is asleep at the wheel. Recent commitments for new nuclear and renewables are welcome, but these alone are insufficient. A rapid overhaul of the planning system and regulations is needed.”
The committee has today published a report featuring 25 recommendations it said were “urgently needed” to deliver a reliable decarbonised power system.
The report said: “A decarbonised power system by 2035 is achievable, but it requires that barriers to swift deployment of critical infrastructure are removed, and policy gaps remedied… A number of processes – including planning, consenting and connections – must be urgently reformed.”
The report was quickly endorsed by the BPF, which is calling for measures in the budget to incentivise decarbonisation of buildings.
Echoing the view of a government “asleep at the wheel”, BPF chief executive Melanie Leech said that the report was a “clear wake-up call”.
“The committee is right to flag the role of the planning system in inhibiting or incentivising carbon reduction. We look forward to working with the Committee to develop further thinking on how the planning system should be reformed to accelerate the pace of change, which is critical if we are to achieve our net zero targets.”
She added: “The modernisation and decarbonisation of the UK’s energy infrastructure is one of the fundamental challenges facing the property sector in delivering the greener homes and workspaces the country needs. Indeed, BPF research has highlighted grid decarbonisation and increasing grid capacity as some of the most important actions that Government can take to drive the transition to net zero carbon.”
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