The UK’s ongoing efforts to disentangle itself from the European Union will continue to divert scarce government officials time for years at an important time for shaping efforts to tackle climate change, academics have warned.
A new policy brief, entitled Brexit Implications for UK Decarbonisation Objectives, has been published today (18 June) by the UK Energy Research Centre (ERC)
While it says climate change issues were prioritised in last December’s EU-UK free trade agreement, there is “much that still needs to be resolved” about how EU-UK cooperation in this area will work in practice.
The ERC concludes that while initial uncertainties, like those surrounding the price of carbon and energy trading rules, have been resolved a lack of clarity remains as some new rules are only temporary.
There has not been enough time nor the “right political space” to negotiate and establish effective replacements for these regimes, the report argues.
Negotiations about how to set up replacement regimes and rules in such areas will be ongoing for “some years” and the UK needs to ensure that there is sufficient civil service capacity for the task.
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement states that the UK government and the EU have until June 2026 to decide the new terms and conditions of their new energy relationship.
The UK has already had to dedicate a large amount of civil service capacity behind the scenes in energy and climate facing departments negotiating and implementing Brexit, the report says, and will have to continue diverting staff time at an important time for efforts to cut emissions.
Given that it will be “impossible” to unplug the UK from the EU’s energy market, organisations and government departments will need to spend “considerable time and effort” trying to influence future EU energy policy decision that will continue to affect them.
Being outside of EU regulatory bodies, like the Agency for the Co-operation of Energy Regulators, will be to the “detriment” of the Ofgem.
Overall, the academics says the UK will face a significant challenge creating a UK policy framework that is aligned with legally binding net-zero targets, while retaining global economic competitiveness as the EU may resist any changes that it believes will give British industry an edge vis-à-vis its own manufacturers.
Brexit has already had a “materially negative” impact on the development of interconnectors, with new Fab and Aquind links to France suspended, at least in part due to the uncertainty over future demand and operating conditions, the report adds.
Dr Caroline Kuzemko, University of Warwick, co-author of the briefing said: “In order to make Brexit a climate and energy ‘success’, our civil service will have to work very hard to ensure that new, replacement regimes, rules and institutions put the UK on a clear pathway towards meeting net zero energy targets.”