Climate change: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s leadership slammed as UK Government advisers find long list of UK climate action failures

The UK Government has been rapped for a series of failings in its actions to tackle climate change in a damning new report from independent advisers.

In its latest assessment of the nation’s progress towards achieving a net zero society by 2050, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) has said it is now “markedly less” confident than it was a year ago the environmental goals required would be met.

In the report, presented to Parliament, the committee found cuts in greenhouse gas emissions had been far too slow and a key opportunity to ramp up progress had been “missed”.

The CCC suggests the rate of reductions would need to increase fourfold over the next seven years to meet 2030 targets and tree planting would need to double in the next two years to get back on track.

The committee also criticised the Government’s support for fossil fuels – the key driver of global warming – by granting new licenses for oil and gas in the North Sea and opening a new coal mine in Cumbria. The body said these moves sent “confusing messages” to the rest of the world and “undermine” the Glasgow Climate Pact that its own team helped negotiate during the UK’s presidency of the COP26 summit.

Meanwhile, planning policies are holding back expansion of renewable energy schemes such as onshore wind and solar power and should be urgently reformed.

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The committee warned growth of UK airports should be halted until strict guidelines were in place. Findings also showed key departments had not delivered on advice from the committee in 2022, with a complete lack of progress on seven priority recommendations.

Advisers from the Climate Change Committee have slammed the UK government over climate action failures, including support for fossil fuels which it says risks undermining international agreements it helped hammer during the country's presidency of the UN's Cop26 summit in 2021. Picture: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

The report said an increase in electric cars was welcome, but moves to electric vans were falling far short. Presenting what will be his final report as CCC chairman before standing down at the end of this month, Lord Deben called for efforts to be dramatically scaled up.

“The lesson of my ten years at the Climate Change Committee is that early action benefits the people of this country and helps us to meet the challenges of the coming decades more cheaply and more easily,” he said.

“Yet, even in these times of extraordinary fossil fuel prices, government has been too slow to embrace cleaner, cheaper alternatives and too keen to support new production of coal, oil and gas. There is a worrying hesitancy by ministers to lead the country to the next stage of net zero commitments.

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“I urge the Government to regroup on net zero and commit to bolder delivery. This is a period when pace must be prioritised over perfection.

“The CCC has indicated clearly what policy initiatives are required to get ministers to where they need to be to achieve net zero Britain. Unless ambitious policy direction is given now, the Government risks the unravelling of the last few years of climate leadership, which was spurred on by the UK’s hosting of COP26 in Glasgow and its landmark agreements.”

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Environmental groups have also blasted the failures, condemning the Prime Minister’s leadership on cutting emissions.

“There’s almost no progress in this progress report, just a pitiful catalogue of Rishi Sunak’s climate failures,” said Rebecca Newsom, head of politics for Greenpeace UK.

“The same government that promised to deliver the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on earth is now turbocharging fossil fuel expansion while actively blocking renewables and neglecting home insulation, public transport and an ageing power grid.

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“Sunak is snubbing the solutions that can give us lower bills, warmer homes and a safer climate, while cheerleading for the oil giants making billions from climate destruction and people's hardship. Whose side is he on?

“With their disposable green pledges, the Prime Minister and his predecessors have hoodwinked an entire generation while leaving the next one with a much steeper mountain to climb.

“As extreme weather worsens and public concern grows, Sunak’s poor track record on climate may well come back to bite him at the next election.”

Climate Group chief executive Helen Clarkson added: “People don’t want more warm words and empty promises, they want to see the policy and investment necessary to accelerate action.”

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