How UK plans to reach net zero by 2050 – here are the key details
The government has announced its strategy to meet its promise to cut emissions to net zero by 2050.
In the 368-page document, Boris Johnson said the aim is to “meet the global climate emergency but not with panicked, short-term or self-destructive measures”.
The prime minister added the plan will be driven forward by the “unique power of capitalism” to bring down the costs of going green “so we can make net zero a net win for people, for industry, for the UK and for the planet”.
Boris Johnson and Bill Gates (L) announced a green investment partnership
These are the key pledges and policies – and Treasury concerns over how it will be paid for:
Power
The government confirmed a target for all electricity to come from low carbon sources by 2035 – subject to security of supply – which brings the plan forward by 15 years.
That includes:
• 40 gigawatts from offshore wind, including 1GW of floating offshore wind by 2030
• Deploying a carbon capture, utilisation and storage power plant
The government wants 40GW to come from offshore wind farms by 2030
• By the end of this parliament (May 2024), the government wants to secure a final investment decision on a large-scale nuclear plant and make decisions after that for more nuclear projects
• Providing £380m for the offshore wind sector
• Fixed minimum annual installation targets of smart meters for energy suppliers from 1 January 2022 so everyone has one by 2026
• Ensuring energy prices are fair and affordable and consumers can use services that will support net zero
Fuel supply and hydrogen
The government wants to deliver 5GW of hydrogen production capacity by 2030 while halving oil and gas emissions.
It plans to do that by:
• Providing up to £140m to establish a scheme that will fund new hydrogen and industrial carbon capture business models
• Implementing a £240m Net Zero Hydrogen Fund in 2022
• Working with the transport sector to develop a low carbon fuel strategy in 2022
• Working with companies to get rid of anything preventing the electrification of oil and gas production by October 2022
• Establishing a climate compatibility check for future licensing on the UK Continental Shelf – the water around the UK to which the country has mineral rights, including large resources of oil and gas
The PM wants hydrogen to become one of the main fuels used in the UK
Industry
The ambition is for 6 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide (MtCO2) to be delivered per year of industrial carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) by 2030, and 9 MtCO2 per year by 2035.
The government wants to set up four CCUS “clusters” by 2030.
To achieve this, it wants to:
• Set up a £1bn carbon capture and storage infrastructure fund
• Give £315m to the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund to support the installation of energy efficiency and on-site decarbonisation measures – £289m for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, £26m for Scotland
• Support switching from fuel to low carbon alternatives, with the aim of replacing around 50 TeraWatt Hours (TWh) of fossil fuels per year by 2035
• Consider the business and financial implications of setting targets for ore-based steelmaking to reach near-zero emissions by 2035
• Incentivise a cost-effective way of ending the reliance on carbon-emitting fuels in industry
The government will support the switch from a reliance on carbon-emitting fuels in industry
Heat and buildings
The government wants to wean UK homes and all buildings off a reliance on fossil fuels by 2035 by making it affordable and achievable for everyone.
It has published the Heat and Buildings Strategy, which aims to:
• Support 175,000 green-skilled jobs by 2030 and 240,000 by 2035
• Phase out the installation of new gas boilers by 2035
• Introduce a £450m Boiler Upgrade Scheme so grants of £5,000 will be available from April 2022 for people to replace gas boilers with low carbon heat pumps (currently around £10,000) at the same cost – with the aim of making heat pumps as cheap to buy and run as gas boilers by 2030
• Invest £60m in heat pump innovation to make them more aesthetically pleasing, smaller and easier to install
• Insulate and upgrade poor homes and social housing so they are more efficient by 2030 with a £1.75bn investment
• Set standards for privately rented homes so they are more energy-efficient by 2028 (and will consider doing this for social housing)
• Invest £1.425bn to reduce direct emissions from public sector buildings by 75% by 2037
• Set a minimum energy efficiency standard of EPC Band B (the second most efficient) by 2030 for privately rented commercial buildings in England and Wales
• Trial hydrogen heating on a large-scale to make a decision by 2026 on its future role
Transport
The government has pledged to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2030 and from 2035 all new cars and vans must be zero-emission.
To achieve that it wants to:
• Set targets for a percentage of new vehicle sales to be zero-emission each year from 2024
• End the sale of all new, non-zero emission road vehicles by 2040 – including motorcycles, buses and HGVs
• Ensure the UK’s vehicle charging network is reliable
• Commit an additional £620m on top of the £1.9bn already pledged for zero-emission vehicle grants and electric vehicle infrastructure
• Have 25% of the government’s car fleet ultra-low emission by December 2022 and all zero-emission by 2027
Electric vehicle charging points will be boosted under the plan
• Invest £12bn in local transport systems by May 2024
• Invest £2bn in cycle lanes and low-traffic neighbourhoods so half of all town and city journeys can be walked or cycled by 2030
• Invest £3bn in buses, including 4,000 new zero-emission buses, more bus lanes and more frequent services
• Electrify all railway lines by 2050 and remove all diesel-only trains by 2040
• Phase out the sale of new non-zero emission domestic shipping vessels
• Use £180m of funding so 10% of commercial flights use sustainable aviation fuels by 2030
Natural resources, waste and fluorinated gases (man-made gases such as HFCs and PFCs used in industry that contribute to the greenhouse effect)
The government wants 75% of farmers in England to be using low carbon practices by 2030 and 85% by 2035.
It aims to do this by:
• Increasing research and development funding into how to deliver net zero in agriculture and horticulture
• Trebling tree growing to meet the target of 30,000 hectares of planting per year by May 2024 and maintain that from 2025 onwards
• Adding £124m to the existing £640m Nature for Climate Fund to restore at least 35,000 hectares of peatland in England, and create and manage woodlands by 2025 – helping farmers to change land use
• Restoring about 280,000 hectares of peat in England by 2050
• Supporting private investment in tree planting and peat restoration
• Increasing the use of timber in construction in England
• Putting £295m into English local authorities to implement free separate food waste collections for all households from 2025 to eliminate biodegradable municipal waste going to landfill from 2028
• Completing a review of F-gas regulations and seeing if they can go further
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Greenhouse gas removals (GGR)
The plan is to engineer the removal of at least 5 MtCO2 per year of greenhouse gases by 2030.
The government says it will do this by:
• Putting £100m of investment into GGR innovation and developing incentives to remove greenhouse gases
• Trying to amend the Climate Change Act to enable engineered GGR to contribute to UK carbon budgets
Politics
Rachel Reeves turning around UK’s finances ‘like Steve Jobs did for Apple’, claims minister
Rachel Reeves will turn around the economy the way Steve Jobs turned around Apple, a cabinet minister has suggested ahead of the upcoming spending review.
Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle compared the chancellor to the late Apple co-founder when asked on Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips where the £86bn for his department is coming from.
Politics Live: Winter fuel payment cut to be dealt with ‘in run up to autumn’
Apple Inc. chief executive Steve Jobs, who died in 2011. Pic: Reuters
Chancellor Rachel Reeves
The package, confirmed ahead of the full spending review next week, will see each region in England granted £500m to spend on science projects of their choice, including research into faster drug treatments.
Asked by Trevor Phillips how the government is finding the money, Mr Kyle said: “Rachel raised money in taxes in the autumn, we are now allocating it per department.
“But the key thing is we are going to be investing record amounts of money into the innovations of the future.
“Just bear in mind that how Apple turned itself around when Steve Jobs came back to Apple, they were 90 days from insolvency. That’s the kind of situation that we had when we came into office.
“Steve Jobs turned it around by inventing the iMac, moving to a series of products like the iPod.
“Now we are starting to invest in the vaccine processes of the future, some of the high-tech solutions that are going to be high growth. We’re investing in our space sector… they will create jobs in the future.”
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The spending review is a process used by governments to set departmental budgets for the years ahead.
Asked if it will include more detail on who will receive winter fuel payments, Mr Kyle said that issue will be “dealt with in the run-up to the autumn”.
“This is a spending review that’s going to set the overall spending constraints for government for the next period, the next three years, so you’re sort of talking about two separate issues at the moment,” he said.
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‘So we won’t get an answer on winter fuel this week?
Scrapping universal winter fuel payments was one of the first things Labour did in government – despite it not being in their manifesto – with minsters saying it was necessary because of the financial “blackhole” left behind by the Tories.
But following a long-drawn out backlash, Sir Keir Starmer said last month that the government would extend eligibility, which is now limited to those on pension credit.
Read more: Spending review 2025 look ahead
It is not clear what the new criteria will be, though Ms Reeves has said the changes will come into place before this winter.
Mr Kyle also claimed the spending review will see the government invest “the most we’ve ever spent per pupil in our school system”.
However, he said the chancellor will stick to her self-imposed fiscal rules – which rule out borrowing for day-to-day spending – meaning that while some departments will get extra money, others are likely to face cuts.
Politics
Minister dismisses US misgivings over Chinese ‘super embassy’ in London – as Tories warn of ‘espionage base’
A minister has dismissed reported US misgivings about plans for a Chinese “super embassy” near London’s financial districts.
Peter Kyle told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that security concerns will be “taken care of assiduously in the planning process”.
Politics live: Winter fuel payment cut to be dealt with ‘in run up to autumn’
There have been protests against the new Chinese embassy. Pic: Reuters
According to The Sunday Times, the White House has warned Downing Street against the proposed massive embassy at Royal Mint Court.
The site is between financial hubs in the City of London and Canary Wharf and close to three data centres, raising concerns about espionage risk.
Asked for the government’s view on the risk, Mr Kyle said: “These issues will be taken care of assiduously in the planning process.
“But just to reassure people, we deal with embassies and these sorts of infrastructure issues all the time.
“We are very experienced and we are very aware of these sorts of issues constantly, not just when new buildings are being done, but all the time.”
He added that America and Britain “share intelligence iteratively” and if they raise security concerns through the planning process “we will have a fulsome response for them”.
However, shadow home secretary Chris Philp said he shared the US’s concerns.
He told Trevor Phillips: “I agree with the United States. We think it is a security risk in the government.
“The Conservatives were very clear. We should not be allowing the Chinese to build the super embassy. It is likely to become a base for their pan-European espionage activities.”
He added that underneath the sites are cables connecting the City of London to Canary Wharf and these could be intercepted.
Sky News has contacted the Chinese embassy for comment.
Read More: Diplomatic win for UK hosting US-China trade talks
China has been attempting to revise plans for the Royal Mint building, opposite the Tower of London, since purchasing it in 2018.
The proposal for the embassy, which would be China’s largest in Europe, was previously rejected by Tower Hamlets council in 2022.
However, Beijing resubmitted it in August after Labour won the election, and the plans were “called in” by Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister and housing secretary.
It means that an inspector will be appointed to carry out an inquiry into the proposal, but the decision ultimately rests with central government rather than the local authority.
Two large protests were held at the site in February and March, which organisers claimed involved thousands of people.
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