The government’s green strategies in a nutshell
Net zero plans for finance and homes are announced as the Treasury tots up the price tag
Boris Johnson’s claim that “it is easy to be green” will be put to the test this week as the government publishes its plans for the UK’s transition to becoming more environmentally friendly.
Ahead of Cop26, No. 10 is setting out its strategy for the UK to reach net zero by 2050. Its neighbours at the Treasury are also sharing the calculated costs, and how they will be distributed, in an accompanying review.
The overarching Net Zero Strategy was expected to be given the green light on Friday during a cabinet “away day”, but the release was delayed following the murder of Conservative MP David Amess.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Zero emissions
The government has a legal duty to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and it’s “taking a high-stakes gamble” by focusing its plans to do so on the publication of its Net Zero Strategy this close to the Cop26 summit, said Westminster’s independent advisory body on climate earlier this year.
“The challenges involved are monumental,” said The Guardian, but one solution is likely to be the UK’s “slow-moving and long-awaited nuclear power programme”, predicted the Financial Times. The strategy will “put nuclear power at the heart” of the government’s plan to reach net zero, with a “regulated asset base” funding model “key to delivering a future fleet of large atomic power stations”, said the newspaper.
Indeed, the strategy, published this afternoon, vowed to invest £120m in the development of nuclear projects, which it claimed could support the path to decarbonising the UK’s electricity system as early as 2035.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The plans also include investing in electric vehicles and green tech, kick-starting the commercialisation of sustainable aviation fuel, and accelerating industrial carbon capture and hydrogen. The government has promised to unlock up to £90bn of private investment by 2030, and support 440,000 well-paid jobs in green industries in 2030.
Heating homes
Another “piece in the Boris Johnson climate-calming jigsaw” is the Heat and Buildings Strategy, said the BBC’s environment analyst Roger Harrabin. This encompasses decarbonisation plans for homeowners, the public sector and social housing at a total cost of £3.9bn to the Treasury over the next three years.
It includes a “world first”, said The Guardian, with the promise to ban new fossil fuel heating systems by 2035. It’s a “trend-setting initiative that other nations will surely follow”, said Harrabin.
The strategy aims to incentivise homeowners to switch to lower-carbon heating systems, with the promise that the transition will be “simple, fair and cheap”. A mix of low-carbon solutions will be needed, the government has highlighted, with trials currently under way to test the feasibility of hydrogen for home heating.
From April 2022, grants of £5,000 will be made available to “take the edge off” the cost of installing greener heating systems, such as heat pumps, as part of a three-year Boiler Upgrade Scheme, said The Times. A selling point of switching is that these systems will be no more expensive than a fossil fuel-powered boiler by 2030, as a result of agreements between government and industry.
Greening finance
The Treasury published Greening Finance: The Roadmap to Sustainable Investing on Monday. The document sets out the government’s plans to clamp down on greenwashing, with changes to legislation and regulations to better inform investors and consumers about how green their investments really are.
The three-phase plan aims to provide better information about green claims that can be acted on in the market, eventually leading to a shift across the economy to keep investments in line with net zero goals. For the first time, some businesses will be required to share information about an investment’s environmental impact under new sustainability disclosure requirements.
The roadmap also provides further details on the Green Finance Taxonomy, the rules by which economic activities can be given the go-ahead for government investment.
Decarbonisation costs
The cost of decarbonising the UK will amount to less than the expense of inaction on climate change. That’s what the latest version of the Treasury’s “long delayed” assessment of the costs of reaching net zero is set to say, said The Telegraph.
The Net Zero Review will set out who is paying what costs to achieve net zero. It “has been the target of a political battle between Number 10 and the Treasury”, and a previous version was criticised for putting the financial burden of achieving net zero on to households. An interim report published in December last year said that the costs of the transition were as yet “uncertain”.
The latest review will also warn of the economic risks involved in decarbonisition. Leaked Treasury documents seen by The Observer say that “more green investment is likely to attract diminishing returns, reducing the positive impact of ever more investment on GDP”.
Johnson is ready to “galvanise ambitious action from every country at Cop26”, said independent think tank E3G’s campaign director Ed Matthew. “If the government has not presented the robust economic case in favour of action, that’s going to significantly undermine those attempts.”
Julia O'Driscoll is the engagement editor. She covers UK and world news, as well as writing lifestyle and travel features. She regularly appears on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast, and hosted The Week's short-form documentary podcast, “The Overview”. Julia was previously the content and social media editor at sustainability consultancy Eco-Age, where she interviewed prominent voices in sustainable fashion and climate movements. She has a master's in liberal arts from Bristol University, and spent a year studying at Charles University in Prague.
-
Cutting cables: the war being waged under the sea
In the Spotlight Two undersea cables were cut in the Baltic sea, sparking concern for the global network
By The Week UK Published
-
How people-smuggling gangs work
The Explainer The Government has promised to 'smash' the gangs that smuggle migrants across the Channel. Who are they and how do they work?
By The Week UK Published
-
Crossword: December 1, 2024
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Global plastics summit starts as COP29 ends
Speed Read Negotiators gathering in South Korea seek an end to the world's plastic pollution crisis, though Trump's election may muddle the deal
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
What are Trump's plans for the climate?
Today's big question Trump's America may be a lot less green
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
The bacterial consequences of hurricanes
Under the radar Floodwaters are microbial hotbeds
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
How safe are cruise ships in storms?
The Explainer The vessels are always prepared
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Biden visits Amazon, says climate legacy irreversible
Speed Read Nobody can reverse America's 'clean energy revolution,' said the president, despite the incoming Trump administration's promises to dismantle climate policies
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Climate change is threatening Florida's Key deer
The Explainer Questions remain as to how much effort should be put into saving the animals
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Is Cop29 a 'waste of time'?
Today's Big Question World leaders stay away as spectre of Donald Trump haunts flagship UN climate summit
By The Week UK Published
-
At least 95 dead in Spain flash floods
Speed Read Torrential rainfall caused the country's worst flooding since 1996
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published