The UK Green Building Council has said its members are hugely concerned that Government action to decarbonise the UK’s buildings, particularly our homes, and prepare them for climate change is simply not happening fast enough.
The warning comes after the Climate Change Committee’s latest progress report concludes that the Government’s programme is failing to deliver.
The urgency of moving away from fossil fuels, securing energy supplies and cutting carbon emissions has never been clearer, but a new Progress Report by the independent Climate Change Committee (CCC) finds major failures in delivery programmes towards the achievement of the UK’s climate goals.
In a landmark 600-page assessment, the CCC has revamped its framework for monitoring the UK’s climate progress, focusing on the changes needed on the ground to achieve Net Zero. Across the economy, the CCC has developed detailed new progress indicators to assess the risks of Net Zero delivery.
UKGBC’s Director of Communications, Policy & Places, Simon McWhirter said: “Tackling the climate and cost of living crises are two sides of the same coin; insulating our homes will reduce energy bills, bolster energy security and help achieve net zero carbon, whilst also delivering hundreds of thousands of quality jobs. The Government needs to urgently fill the gaping holes in policy for industry to speed up, skill up and scale-up.
“The CCC rightly identifies that energy efficiency in homes is the most significant policy gap in the building sector; with targets but no plan, funding or timeline for the much-needed policies. We’re not going to hit our climate targets without a serious package of long-term structural and financial drivers in this area. UKGBC has been a central voice in the widespread calls for an energy saving stamp duty incentive to encourage homebuyers to upgrade their homes following purchase. The Committee has echoed this, calling on HM Treasury to urgently review its tax strategy to support the net zero transition.
“The CCC also stressed the central importance of local authorities to drive progress on home retrofit, and the need for coordination and collaboration. But it also recommended more strategic and longer term funding mechanisms. UKGBC is already calling for national funding for at least one retrofit officer in each local authority across the country to boost capacity and skills, and speed up delivery; and we have launched a nationwide local authority network to share best practice.
Finally, on planning reform McWhirter adds: “The CCC says that comprehensive planning reform is needed to meet the UK’s international and national commitments to net zero – but the Levelling Up Bill, which has planning reform at its centre, currently fails abjectly in this task. That’s why UKGBC is championing amendments to ensure our planning system helps to deliver, not undermine, the UK’s climate and environment commitments.”
The CBI also responded to the CCC report. Tom Thackray, CBI Decarbonisation Director, said: “As we hit halfway to COP27 and three years on from the UK setting its net zero target, delivery must now be the Government’s watchword – both in the short and long-term.
“Weathering the cost-of-living crisis requires urgent action on energy efficiency to help bring down household bills. Delivering an affordable, resilient and net zero energy network would also help put pounds back in people’s pockets and propel the UK’s net zero journey forward.
“The Government has put the UK on the right path to net zero, but they cannot achieve it alone – business action is essential too. There are huge economic opportunities tied up with the UK’s green transition and businesses are eager to ramp up low-carbon investment.
“To maintain companies’ confidence to invest, business models must be brought forward for critical green technologies, alongside stripping bureaucracy from the planning system and new energy market regulations brought forward urgently.”
