The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has issued a call for evidence to inform its advice to government on the sixth carbon budget covering the years 2033 to 2037.
The budget will be the first to be agreed since the government committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. It is due to be set in September 2020.
The climate watchdog said the consultation is longer than previous iterations due the inclusion of sector-specific questions and enquiries concerning the Welsh government’s third carbon budget, on which it is also seeking evidence.
The deadline for responses is 5 February 2020.
Firing the starting pistol on the next major piece of whole-economy @theCCCuk work. The 6th Carbon Budget is the crucial mid-2030s period. We’ll advise on essential steps for the next decade and we’ll publish pre-#COP26.
It’s as important as our #NetZero report. Maybe more so… https://t.co/UUPBBDlHYm
— Chris Stark (@ChiefExecCCC) December 5, 2019
The fifth carbon budget was confirmed by the government in June 2016. Statistics from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) indicate that the UK is on course to breach both its fourth and fifth carbon budgets by the equivalent of 139 and 245 million tonnes of carbon dioxide – or 7 and 14 per cent of the respective totals.
The first and second budgets have already been met with room to spare and BEIS has forecast an 88 million tonne surplus for the third, spanning 2018 to 2022.
The CCC wrote to Claire Perry in February – the energy and clean growth minister at the time – to advise her against rolling over the surplus to future accounting periods. Committee chair Lord Deben warned it would become “more difficult and expensive” to reach long-term targets as a result.