The phrase ‘greenest government ever’ has become a mantra for the Coalition, not least for David Cameron and energy and climate secretary Chris Huhne. And we are assured that at the heart of the vision is Britain’s commitment to a low carbon future.

Emissions should be cut by at least 34% by 2020 relative to 1990. Low-carbon businesses and technologies should help drive the UK out of recession and towards green growth.

We will see whether these ambitions translate into reality or get lost in a fog of fiscal expediency when the government publishes its spending review in less than a week’s time. (more…)

Energy policy in the UK is at a crossroads, and the decisions made now will reverberate for decades. At least 43 gigawatts of new electrical generation capacity, equivalent to half of Britain’s current total, will be needed by 2020, as all but one of its nuclear plants are retired and coal-fired power stations closed to meet EU air pollution standards.

A staggering £200bn of investment will be needed not only to maintain energy security against price spikes as North Sea resources dwindle and energy imports grow, but also to deliver the largest single contribution to a low-carbon economy. (more…)

Energy efficiency should be at the centre of UK energy policy by now. The so-called fifth fuel has always been the cheapest and best environmental option.

To be fair, there are a number of coalition proposals afoot for the Autumn that will further the cause: the extended Carbon Emissions Reduction Target, a Renewable Heat Incentive and a Green Deal that will see home energy efficiency upgraded through long-term loans paid for by savings on bills, to name the key ones. (more…)

The latest inter-sessional climate talks at Bonn revealed just how much the future of global climate and energy action still hangs by a thread – and a badly frayed one at that.

Until now, the international offset market has limped along despite the looming threat of a gap between the first Kyoto Protocol commitment period, which ends in 2012, and the beginning of a new global agreement. There had been signs of a recovery in momentum at the June talks in Bonn (ENDS Report July 2010), with progress on rationalising negotiating texts. (more…)

Traditionally, research, development and training are among the first things to go in hard times. Squeezed by falling sales, businesses look to consolidate by relying on mature technology.

This pays in the short term but provides little hope of competing with new technologies, often developed overseas, when good times return. And government investment in basic research, which translates only indirectly into cash in the long term, is another soft touch.

Why does this matter? Because if we really are serious about a more diverse, energy-efficient and low-carbon economic recovery then we must stop expediently cutting back the wrong shoots when we look to make savings.

And even where the investment means continued borrowing in the short term, we need to recognise that there is nothing wrong with that if it transforms the economy and provides the future jobs so desperately needed. (more…)

During the count-down to George Osborne’s emergency budget of June 22 (ENDS Report, June 2010) a real sense of expectation grew that the chancellor would announce concrete new policies on energy and climate change. In the event, nothing of the sort happened.

Yes there were fleeting references to new policies. But in each case there was no advance on details already set out in the coalition’s sketchy programme for government (ENDS Report May, 2010). The further delays are doing little for investor confidence.

Especially frustrating is the lack of progress on the most radical policy – replacement of the electricity component of the Climate Change Levy (CCL) by a “top-up” carbon tax on power generators.

The tax would kick in whenever emission allowances in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme drop below an as yet unspecified threshold. This would effectively set a carbon floor price, providing a more consistent signal in favour of low carbon investment.

The plan remains on the table, but now looks set to be seriously delayed. (more…)

Ever since the European Union introduced the world’s first mandatory greenhouse gas cap-and-trade scheme in 2005 it has faced complaints that by setting a price on carbon it would drive heavy industries away.

The financial crisis and recession, plus the failure of the Copenhagen climate summit to agree a post-2012 global climate policy framework have pushed this issue of ‘carbon leakage’ way up the political agenda.

I explore the rights and wrongs of the whole issue at length in a new feature article, which will appear in the June edition of the ENDS Report.

The critical context is the decision facing Europe of whether it should increase its 2020 climate targets from a 20% reduction relative to 1990 to 30%. And the burning question is whether raising the target would add to carbon leakage. (more…)

In its dying days, the Labour government bequeathed to its successors a rich mix of energy and climate targets, legislation and guidance. Most of this will survive in some form.

At the heart of UK climate and energy policy is the Climate Change Act 2008 and last summer’s Low Carbon Transition Plan. This aims at cutting UK greenhouse gas emissions by at least 34% by 2020 relative to 1990 and delivering a low carbon economy by 2050. Departmental carbon budgets have provided more detail on what is expected from each sector of the economy. (more…)