Committee on Climate Change

Good progress has been made in Scotland since 2009 to reduce emissions in order to tackle climate change, according to the Committee on Climate Change (CCC). The CCC today published it first progress report on emission reductions in Scotland, as requested by Scottish Ministers under the Climate Change Act (2009).

Emissions fell in Scotland by 7% in 2009, mainly due to the impact of the recession and a reduction in economic output. Emissions are however likely to have risen in 2010, as a result of the cold temperatures at the start and end of 2010, and due to increased economic activity.

Lord Turner today announced that he is standing down as Chair of the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) from spring 2012 in order to focus on his role as Chair of the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Lord Turner has been Chair of the Committee since it was set up in 2008, and has been influential in guiding its analysis and in encouraging Government to strengthen its approach to tackling climate change. Since 2010, he has combined this role with his full-time role as Chair of the FSA.

Lord Adair Turner, Chair of the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has written to the Secretary of State Chris Huhne this morning expressing concern about some of the detailed proposals for the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation (ECO).

The Committee’s findings disprove often repeated claims that recent bill increases are due to environmental policy costs, and that major investments in low-carbon power capacity will drive dramatic bill increases over the next decade (e.g. as high as £3,000).

The Committee’s analysis focuses on the 84% of UK households (21 million) that have dual-fuel energy bills (i.e. use gas for heating rather than electricity or other fuels).

The review concludes that a 10% share of bioenergy in total energy could be required to meet the UK’s 2050 emissions target, compared to the current share of 2%. Bioenergy would ideally be used with CCS, which would allow for the removal of carbon from the atmosphere and for higher emissions reductions to be achieved.

In the report the Committee makes five key recommendations to the Government:

1. Regulatory frameworks should be strengthened to ensure sustainability of bioenergy.
2. CCS should be demonstrated as a matter of urgency. 
3. Government should regard targets on biofuels and biomass as flexible and should delay setting any new targets.
4. Subsidies should not be provided to new large scale biomass power generation under the Renewables Obligation. Other low carbon options should be developed.

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) said today that the UK’s share of international shipping could account for up to 11% of total emissions permitted under the Climate Change Act by 2050 (i.e. 18MtCO₂ of total 160MtCO₂). Given that international shipping emissions are likely to be material, and to have implications for approaches in other sectors, the Committee recommends that these should be included now in the 2050 target, and sets out options for inclusion in carbon budgets.

The Committee also recommends that the Government should work with the EC to gain access to fuel use data from ship operators in order to resolve uncertainties over current emissions, and that the Government should support market based approaches to reducing shipping emissions, ideally global but if not at the EU level. Emissions from international aviation and shipping are not at present included in carbon budgets or in the UK’s target to reduce emissions in 2050 by 80% below 1990 levels.

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) will today advise the Northern Ireland Environment Minister that legislated emission reduction targets could be helpful to harness the significant opportunities to reduce emissions in Northern Ireland. 

The Committee was asked by Northern Ireland’s Environment Minister to provide advice on whether it is appropriate for Northern Ireland to enact its own climate change legislation, including the introduction of legally binding emissions targets. Fresh analysis published by the Committee shows that there is scope to reduce emissions across agriculture, transport, buildings and the public sector by up to 25% from today’s levels in 2020 (i.e. a level consistent with the path to longer term required reductions).

In a report published today, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has highlighted progress made by the Welsh Government towards reducing emissions and preparing for climate change.

One year ago the Welsh Government set out a strategy to achieve its ambitious targets to reduce emissions by 3% annually over the next decade.

The Committee’s report considers latest emissions data, showing that emissions in 2009 fell by around 14% as a result of the recession, and suggests that these are likely to have increased in 2010 due to the cold winter.

The Government published a response to our 2009 Aviation Report today, setting out new evidence on emissions forecasts and on the cost-effectiveness of a range of policies that could help to reduce emissions from aviation by 2050. This builds upon CCC analysis of whether and how the previous Government’s target to reduce aviation emissions to 2005 levels could be met.

The forecasts set out by the Department for Transport (DfT) are similar to those made by the Committee in 2009. DfT’s ‘central’ scenario forecasts UK aviation emissions to be 49MtCO₂ in 2050, a close match to our ‘Likely’ scenario, which forecast 48MtCO₂.

The CCC has been awarded the Carbon Trust Standard after it achieved the 8% reduction by cutting its carbon footprint for its business emissions from 53.5tCO2e in 2009-10 to 49.1 tCO2e in 2010-11

The Carbon Trust Standard recognises organisations for real carbon reduction. Based on a rigorous, independent assessment, it certifies that organisations have measured, managed and reduced their carbon emissions across their own operations, and are committed to reducing them year on year.