The CCC is the latest in a line of organisations expressing concern at recent government cuts in subsidies for renewable energy while boosting support for fossil fuels and nuclear. Lord Deben, alias the Rt Hon John Selwyn Gummer MP, in his current capacity as CCC chair has now challenged the government on this issue in a letter sent directly to the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Amber Rudd.
John Gummer was a prominent member of Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 1989 and Secretary of State for the Environment under John Major in 1993. He was responsible for introducing the UK’s first environmental tax – the Landfill Tax – as part of his Environment Act 1995. BBC Wildlife Magazine once described him as the “Environment Secretary against which all others are judged” awarding him a place in its list of “Top Ten Environmental Heroes”. He was also awarded the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Medal and labelled “the best Environment Secretary we've ever had” by Friends of the Earth.
Lord Deben began his letter to Ms Rudd by stating that the CCC has been much encouraged by her confirmation of the government’s support for the UK’s 2050 target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and for the carbon budgets that provide for steady progress towards that target. However, the letter almost instantly moves into a note of concern about the announcements concerning existing low-carbon policies, which have been “widely interpreted to have reduced the action being taken to meet the clear commitment to carbon budgets”. Lord Deben writes that this has now left a policy gap which urgently needs to be addressed and that the announcements, as a package, “have raised questions over the future direction of low-carbon policies.”
While Lord Deben concedes that, individually, there is evidence supporting the government’s announcements with regard to cost-effectiveness and policy overlap and that there should be a natural desire, at a time of fiscal constraint, to bring costs under control, he also states that from the perspective of businesses and households and their ability to make long-term investments and decisions, that the announcements present potential problems amounting to a perceived weakening of the policy framework. He argues that the main reason for this impression is that the government has not given any clear guidance as to what improved measures will be put in place.
The letter cites examples of the actions the government has taken since it entered power that have generated such concern. These include the proposed reforms to reduce spending under the Levy Control Framework (LCF) to 2020/21 which, although accompanied by a statement that the LCF will be extended into the 2020s, gave no date as to when this will occur and at what level. Lord Deben argues that this is vital in order to boost confidence in the low-carbon generation market.
Another area of concern for the CCC is the abolition of the Green Deal energy efficiency scheme in favour of a “new value-for-money approach”, which is short on detail. Similarly, the scrapping of the Zero-Carbon Standard for new homes has been replaced by a vague commitment to “keep energy efficiency standards under review”.
Lord Deben stresses that “action in each of these (and other) areas is important to meet future carbon budgets and the 2050 target cost-effectively” and that it would be “particularly useful” if the government set out its plans to achieve cross-party commitment to carbon budgets in accordance with the Climate Change Act and to end the use of unabated coal for power generation. He states that this should be possible with minimal impact on energy bills and that new technologies “are often competing against incumbents who do not pay their full cost” while “innovation through all stages often requires public support”, meaning that it is essential that funding is not withdrawn too early.
The letter argues that recent changes have not sought to address the continuing need to keep UK emissions reduction on track while the uncertainty created by changes to existing policies and a lack of replacement policies up to and after 2020 could “well lead to stop-start investment, higher costs and a risk that targets to reduce emissions will be missed.” The letter urges the government to make the next announcements as early as possible and advises that they cover both what the Government plans to put in place between now and 2020 and plans beyond 2020.
Lord Deben delivered his intervention to coincide with the attack on the government’s behaviour by former US Vice President Al Gore who commented that the UK risks compromising its position as a leader on global climate action.
“I have seen in my own country where people who are well-meaning can be persuaded to do things that are really not in their best interests or their country's best interests” Gore added. “I had a brilliant headmaster when I was a student who was famous for a single saying; he said: over and over again in life, we are faced with the same question, with the same choice between the hard right and the easy wrong. And I think that the wrong choice on support for renewable energy and conservation and sustainability appears easy when financial backers with a stake in seeing things stay as they are are quite clever and immensely persistent in giving all the reasons why it should not change.”
Gore was speaking at an event hosted by the think tank Green Alliance and was followed by CBI director general John Cridland who warned that the government’s actions had sent a “worrying signal” to investors and businesses.
“Over many years the UK has built up real credibility on climate leadership and low carbon investment. Hard won, but easily lost” Cridland said. “And despite the progress so far, today's investors, the investors I have the privilege to speak for are more uncertain about the UK's low-carbon future. The rollback of renewables, the mixed messages on energy efficiency - these changes send a worrying signal about the UK as a place for low-carbon investment.”
The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) responded to the criticisms of all three figures by wheeling out it’s, by now almost standard statement, to the effect that the government intends to “reduce emissions in the most cost-effective way whilst keeping bills as low as possible for hardworking families and businesses” and the even more vague argument that “we are pushing for a strong global deal in Paris that creates a level playing field for business and drives innovation”.
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