Government’s green plans ‘positive but threaten to greenwash its lack of climate action’

Plans to scale up “affordable, clean, homegrown power and build thriving green industries in Britain” have been unveiled by the government.

Measures announced include:

• A commitment to Carbon Capture Usage and Storage: the first projects will be announced to progress to the next stage of the negotiations to roll out the first Carbon Capture clusters in the country’s industrial heartlands. The round for areas to apply for two additional future clusters has also been launched and there will be an opportunity for more projects to be added to the first two clusters. These announcements build on the £20 billion CCUS funding.
• Kick-starting investment into the UK’s emerging floating offshore wind industry by launching the £160 million fund to support port infrastructure projects, securing the UK’s leadership in this new technology.
• Backing the first tranche of new green hydrogen production projects under the £240 million Net Zero Hydrogen Fund as part of development of this new power source.
• Opening the fifth round of the UK’s scheme to incentivise investment in renewable electricity, backed by a budget of £205 million. Now being held annually, Contracts for Difference will build on the UK levy-funded support for renewable power since 2010 of around £80 billion.
• Announcing Great British Nuclear, which will initially be led by Simon Bowen as interim chair and Gwen Parry-Jones as interim chief executive officer: GBN’s first job will be to launch a new competition to select the best Small Modular Reactor technologies – one of the most advanced nuclear power technologies in the world – for development by autumn.
• Speeding up the planning process to attract investment – reforming the planning process to enable the building of more energy infrastructure including solar power and offshore wind projects more quickly.
• Cutting household bills by expanding government energy efficiency support to even more households - The Great British Insulation Scheme, a rebranded ECO+, will upgrade 300,000 of the country’s least energy-efficient homes.
• Investing more than £380 million into boosting EV charging points and infrastructure across the country to support the roll-out of electric vehicles
•  Reducing reliance on fossil fuels to heat our buildings – a new £30 million Heat Pump Investment Accelerator is designed to leverage £270 million private investment to boost manufacturing and supply of heat pumps in the UK. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which offers a £5,000 grant to anyone buying a heat pump, will be extended to 2028.
• Providing UK Export Finance with an extra £10 billion capacity to boost exports, including from the UK’s world-leading clean growth sectors.
• Building a stable environment for businesses to invest and grow in the transition to electric vehicles and sustainable aviation fuel.

National security

Energy security secretary Grant Shapps said: “We have seen over the past year what can happen when global energy supplies are disrupted… Access to cheap, abundant and reliable energy provides the foundation stone of a thriving economy with our homes and businesses relying on it to deliver our future prosperity.”

Jeremy Hunt, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said: “Transforming our energy system is no longer just about tackling climate change, it is also a matter of national security. To protect ourselves from future price spikes, we need to accelerate the move to cleaner, cheaper, home-grown energy.

“By unlocking billions of pounds of private capital through our Green Finance Strategy, we generate more of the energy we need in Britain and create new industries and jobs that are built to last.”

Hunt added that this will then “drive green growth at home and abroad and see British businesses set the standard for a clean, secure and prosperous future”.

Julie Hirigoyen, chief executive at UKGBC said: “The government has… doubled down on new clean energy generation, a positive stimulus at this febrile moment for energy security. But it has missed an opportunity by failing to publish a comprehensive national plan to curb the staggering levels of energy waste from our homes and buildings. Without this, we’re trapped into unsustainable demand for heat and electricity, making it extraordinarily difficult to see how we’ll pay our bills or hit our climate goals. 

“Initiatives such as the ECO+ scheme and extension to heat pump support, while welcome, will only reach a fraction of the 27 million homes that need retrofitting. Similarly, reforms to the planning system set out today do not include the net zero test recommended by Chris Skidmore MP. 

“As our climate emergency intensifies, the government should be leading from the front by seizing the opportunities of a nationwide retrofit plan that would deliver £56 billion to the UK’s green economy, slash energy bills to save households £8 billion every year and create 500,000 skilled jobs in a decade.  

“We hope that the government makes use of the opportunities to get on track offered by the Energy Efficiency Taskforce and amendments to the planning system through the levelling up bill.” 

Mary Church, Friends of the Earth Scotland’s head of campaigns, said: “With this package the UK Government is trying to greenwash its woeful lack of climate ambition and ignoring the massive elephant in the room of its own oil and gas expansion plans.

“This government cannot be taken seriously on climate whilst it looks set to approve the hugely polluting Rosebank oil field and deliver billions in public subsidies to make that controversial project happen. Fossil fuels are driving both climate breakdown and the cost-of-living crisis, yet the UK Government looks set to slam its foot down on the accelerator.

“Failure from politicians to put an end date on oil and gas, and properly plan and support the transition to renewables is leaving workers totally adrift on the whims of fossil fuel companies, and the planet to burn. Workers and communities most affected must be at the heart of planning the transition to decent green renewable jobs."