Rishi Sunak’s silence on climate change issues has been described as “deafening” by the chief executive of the Climate Change Committee (CCC).
At a launch event for the CCC’s latest 2021 progress report, Chris Stark urged the chancellor of the exchequer to take a higher profile stance on curbing emissions in the lead-up to the COP26 climate change summit later this year.
The Treasury has been working on a net zero review, setting out how the costs of decarbonisation will be distributed across society, since late 2019.
However, the final version of the review, which was instigated in response to a recommendation by the CCC, has yet to be published.
The CCC‘s progress report identified the Treasury as one of the government departments which are “lagging” and “timid” in their approach to climate change.
Stark, who is a former Treasury official, said that “nay-sayers and bad faith actors who like to present this as a major cost to the UK economy” were filling a gap created by the low profile adopted by many government ministers on the decarbonisation issue.
He said: “The silence from the chancellor is deafening.
“I would love to see the chancellor make a big speech about this: it would be great for the UK finance minister to own this space.”
Stark said that costs of decarbonising the UK are very small compared to the overall size of the UK economy.
Across government, there must be a more urgent approach to cutting emissions, he said: “People call climate change an emergency but the response from policymakers is not an emergency response. We need to inject urgency into it in a way that we haven’t to date.”
Stark also said the Treasury must carry out a full review of carbon taxation. While he said carbon taxes are not the “panacea” for delivering decarbonisation that many economists believed 20 years ago, they are a vital component of the required mix of policies.
The CCC’s chair Lord Deben said COP26 will be the “first test” of whether the government’s rhetoric about “global Britain” translates into action.
Following the publication of this week’s report, the Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) committee has launched an inquiry into the leadership and co-ordination of the government’s efforts to cut UK emissions to net zero by 2050.
The committee’s inquiry will examine BEIS’ role leading the delivery of net zero, how effectively the department is co-ordinating action across Whitehall and the role that devolved administrations and local and regional authorities can play.
Darren Jones, chair of the BEIS committee, said: “Getting to net-zero will require a significant increase in the scale and pace of change across every part of the UK, especially in the decade ahead. We need the government to quickly move from announcing targets to setting out delivery plans, to ensure a fair and just transition, and to bring about genuine public engagement and consent for the measures necessary to achieve our climate targets.
“The Climate Change Committee’s Progress Report to Parliament highlights that the government has been too slow to back up its high ambitions on climate change with the policies, financing and delivery bodies that are need to actually deliver on our decarbonisation target.”
Nina Skorupska, chief executive of the REA, said the CCC’s progress report made for “very sober reading”, adding that gaps in policy, inconsistent support and missed opportunities are undermining the government’s net zero ambitions.
She said: “We recognise and share the frustrations that the report outlines. In too many areas there are gaps in policy, inconsistent support and missed opportunities.
“Take the heat and buildings strategy, for example. This was meant to be a landmark document which would set the agenda for heat decarbonisation over the next decade. It was meant to be published last year, but we are still waiting. Coupled with the closure of the Non-Domestic RHI in March, this significant delay has left a policy vacuum for our sector.”