ReWiRE (Regen’s Women in Renewables Network) hosted an informal lunchtime lowdown on the recent Climate Change Committee’s Progress Report to Parliament 2021 as part of our ‘Cutting edge of the energy transition webinar series’.
In two progress reports, published on the 24 June, the Committee offers its appraisal of progress on the twin climate challenges: cutting emissions to Net Zero and adapting to the climate risks facing the UK. They draw on the Committee’s comprehensive analysis of the UK’s Sixth Carbon Budget and their recent third Climate Change Risk Assessment to present more than 200 climate policy recommendations, covering every part of government.
As the Climate Change Committee’s report notes, our sector has led the way in reducing carbon emissions and has a crucial role to play in helping the country reach Net Zero. However, the assessment from the Climate Change Committee has laid bare the gap between the government’s climate ambition and the paralysis of decision making on key policies to phase out the use of fossil fuels. Given the scale of what the UK Presidency needs to do to persuade others internationally to step up ambition and delivery in the run up to COP26, this will be a particularly important year for this message. The UK has a golden opportunity to show global leadership and set world leading targets, as well as unleash a green jobs revolution.
Rachel Hay, lead analyst – buildings at The Committee on Climate Change, joined us to give an overview of the reports and the clear messages they have presented to government, including on the Net Zero Strategy. Following this we took a deep dive into heat and buildings.