Chris Skidmore MP, Former Energy Minister and Chair of the Government’s Net Zero Review, is warning that more should be done to ensure the UK reaps the economic benefits of the opportunities offered by net zero.

The Conservative MP says the Government needs to be clearer and more consistent with its own climate policies.in the detailed 384 page report  - Mission Net Zero - which is published today.

Introducing the  Review, Chris Skidmore said:

“How we create a ‘big bang’ moment for net zero, enabling and unleashing the potential of the whole of the UK to seize the opportunities that net zero presents has been a key focus of this Review….

“The overriding message of the Review is that we must deliver greater certainty, consistency, and clarity across net zero policy making, with a stability of approach that requires long term planning….

“While forty-two months may have passed since the UK signed net zero into law, there remain just three hundred and twenty-four months until 2050. Planning effectively for that net zero future must be our priority..”

The Review is split into two parts - the first part exploring the opportunity, and benefits to individuals and the economy, emphasising that the UK must go further and faster to realise economic benefits.

The second part sets out a roadmap for how Government and industry can work to better exploit the opportunities and catalyse action in individual sectors of the economy, enhancing the role of local authorities, communities, and the individual to deliver the green transition.

Alongside wider recommendations, the report is calling for twenty-five policies that could be realistically be taken forward now and implemented by 2025, including on onshore wind, eco food labelling, and phasing out gas boilers.

The Review makes 129 recommendations to the government - the main recommendations are:

Using infrastructure to unlock net zero

• Accelerating the implementation of the British Energy Security Strategy to update the mandate of Ofgem, creating the Future System Operator and accelerating the connection of cheaper renewables such as solar and onshore wind.
• Developing a cross-sectoral infrastructure strategy by 2025 supporting the building and adaptation of infrastructure for electricity, hydrogen, other liquid and gaseous fuels and CO2 networks that support the green economy.
• Reforming our approach to planning, so that where locally supported, more solar and onshore wind can be developed more easily, helping communities reap the benefits of cheaper low-carbon electricity.

Creating sustainable governance structures for net zero

• Developing an over-arching government financing strategy by the end of 2023.
• Establishing an Office for Net Zero Delivery, responsible for placing net zero delivery at the heart of Government thinking.
• Backing businesses to go green
• Reviewing incentives for investment in decarbonisation, including via the tax system and capital allowances, and protecting British industries from environmental undercutting by progressing plans on carbon leakage measures and providing more detail on the UK’s new Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
• Building skills needed for the transition by driving forward the Green Jobs Taskforce recommendations and launching a ‘Help to Grow Green’ campaign, offering information and support to SMEs to plan and invest in the transition.

Catalysing local action

• Reforming the planning system at local and national level to place net zero at its heart.
• Back at least one Trailblazer Net Zero City, Local Authority and Community, with the aim for these places to reach net zero by 2030

Increasing transparency and engaging people

• Expanding the government’s public reporting on net zero
• Ramping up public information through a new engagement plan, a new carbon calculator on the carbon cost of choices, and a standardised approach to ecolabelling on products.
• Developing a Net Zero Charter mark, acknowledging “best in class” among firms for their work in reaching net zero.

Delivering cleaner, cheaper, greener homes

• Legislating for the Future Homes Standard, meaning no new homes will be built with a gas boiler from 2025, and for all homes sold to be EPC C by 2033.
• Adopting a 10-year mission to make heat pumps a widespread technology in the UK and legislate for the end of new and replacement gas boilers by 2033 at the latest.
• Reforming EPC ratings to create a clearer, more accessible Net Zero Performance Certificate (NZPC) for households

Capitalising on international leadership

• Conducting a strategic review on the UK’s international climate leadership and introduce environmental and climate protections in future free trade agreements, removing trade barriers to environmental goods and services.

Setting ourselves up for 2050 and beyond

• Ramping up investment in research and development (R&D), with a new net zero R&D and technologies roadmap up to 2050, supporting up to three 10-year demonstrator projects

Official statistics show there are already around 400,000 jobs in low-carbon businesses and their supply chains across the UK, with turnover estimated at £41.2 billion in 2020. 

Both the British Energy Security Strategy and Net Zero Strategy are aiming to leverage an additional and unprecedented £100 billion of private investment, while supporting an additional 480,000 British jobs by 2030.

Lord Stern: "I hope the Prime Minister and his government will respond to the review with the urgency and scale required"

Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Professor Lord Stern of Brentford, commented:

“Chris Skidmore and his team deserve great credit for carrying out a rigorous, robust, and inclusive review of the evidence on the economics of the UK’s net-zero transition.

“In particular, the review has argued convincingly that the transition to a net-zero economy is the growth opportunity of the 21st century, and the UK is well-placed to benefit from the increasing demand for net-zero goods and services, if it makes the right public and private investments.

“It also correctly highlights the critical importance of government creating an environment that is conducive to this investment by providing clarity, certainty, consistency and continuity of policy.”

“I hope the Prime Minister and his government will respond to the review with the urgency and scale required to prevent this enormous economic opportunity from slipping through our fingers. This transition, and the investment and innovation it embodies, are at the core of the UK’s growth story for the coming decade.”

Executive Director of the Aldersgate Group, Nick Molho, said the Government should use the recommendations of the review to produce an updated and strengthened Net Zero Strategy early this year, adding:

“It should also crack on with some of the most pressing policy recommendations highlighted in the report, such as on grid infrastructure, full power sector decarbonisation, energy efficiency in homes, resource efficiency, and business models to support the roll out of CCS, hydrogen and other low carbon solutions urgently needed by heavy industry.”

EAC Chair: inconsistent policies and lack of coherence across Government in implementation does not give confidence

Reacting to the Independent Review of Net Zero by Rt Hon Chris Skidmore MP, Environmental Audit Committee Chairman, Rt Hon Philip Dunne MP, said:

“Chris Skidmore’s Net Zero Review report demonstrates, unequivocally, the countless opportunities net zero brings. His emphasis on clarity and leadership cannot be understated. In some areas the UK Government has made major advances in tackling climate change, and its stated ambition is undoubted. But inconsistent policies and a lack of coherence across Government in implementation, with little effective cross departmental governance, does not give confidence to those sectors that will drive real change and develop green skills.

“Getting the tools in place to deliver net zero makes economic sense, and can cement our role as a world leader in tackling climate change. The benefits are too critical to get this wrong.

“The review reflects many issues the Environmental Audit Committee has been calling for over the years. Just last week we recommended that all new builds should have solar panels installed, and that the Government must consider the potential of onshore wind. In our work on hydrogen, we recognised that the sector is lacking the clarity from the Government: a clear plan is necessary. The Committee has acknowledged that in its current form, the EPC system needs improvement: a new Net Zero Performance Certificate may be the answer.

“As a society, we need to get better at reducing, reusing and recycling and move towards a circular economy. From fashion to electricals, this approach should be standard: being wasteful is not consistent with our net zero goals.

“Embedding nature and habitat restoration is critical, and I am pleased that the review acknowledges the important role biodiversity has in tackling climate change. Ministers should carefully consider all the recommendations of this important review, which plainly sets out just what needs to be done to drive beneficial and meaningful change. All eyes will now be on the Government’s response.”

Click here to download the Mission Zero Review in full