UK ‘should cut emissions by 78% by 2035’
The UK should cut greenhouse gas emissions by nearly four-fifths by 2035, climate advisers have said, signalling major changes to home heating, cars and diets.
Experts said sales of gas boilers should be halted by 2033, new fossil-fuel led car sales – including hybrids – should end in 2032 and people should be encouraged to cut the amount of meat and dairy they eat by a fifth in the next decade.
The Committee on Climate Change said the moves are among those needed to meet its recommended target for the UK to cut emissions by 78 per cent by 2035 on 1990 levels, as par t of the sixth "carbon budget" covering climate action in 2033-37.
The five-yearly budgets aim to help the UK meet the long term legally binding goal to bring climate pollution down to zero overall or "net zero" by mid-century, as part of efforts to prevent dangerous climate change.
It represents a major increase in ambition in UK climate efforts, with the new 2035 target almost as tough as the previous long term goal of 80 per cent cuts by 2050, which was in place before the net zero law was passed in June 2019.
But the committee's chairman, Lord Deben, said it was "realistic and affordable" as well as ambitious and provided a chance to jump-start the UK'S economic recovery after the pandemic.
Measures to meet the climate goals include making the electricity system zero carbon by 2035, with offshore wind playing a major role, producing hydrogen to replace gas, creating woodlands, curbing the growth in flying and making homes greener.
The committee also wants to see more action to restore UK peatlands to help store carbon, and Lord Deben called for an immediate ban on sales of horticultural peat, saying it was "ridiculous" it was still on sale.
Investment of £50 billion a year by 2030 will be required, most of which will come from the private sector.
But over time, savings in fuel costs, including less gas for power and heating and petrol for cars, will offset most of the needed investment.
The report also said the Treasury is likely to have to double funding for green measures to £9-12 billion a year in 2030.
The costs of shifting the UK to a low carbon economy has fallen significantly, analysis by the advisory committee suggests, and will now cost less than 1 per cent of economic output, or GDP, through the next 30 years.
Plans to make the UK' s homes green er can be implemented without large increase son energy bills, while motorists could see the costs of driving fall as they shift to electric cars, the report said.
Hundreds of thousands of Jobs could be created in sectors such as insulation, cutting emissions can improve health and, as the world moves to a low carbon economy, there will be new export opportunities, it said.
But the shift has to be fair, so policies must be designed to make sure the costs do not fall on those least able to pay, and there needs to be training to help workers move from fossil fuel sectors to greener industries.