UK Government heavily criticised by official climate advisors

28th June 2023

A ‘lack of urgency’ from government is holding the UK back from being able to meet its climate commitments, according to the Climate Change Committee. IEMA's Digital Journalist, Tom Pashby reports.

The committee, which is a statutory body set up under the Climate Change Act 2008, is led by Conservative peer Lord Deben. In their annual assessment of decarbonisation in the UK, the advisors issued a series of criticisms of the government’s climate policy.

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Sarah Mukherjee MBE, CEO of IEMA, said: "The committee is calling for a major acceleration of action to deliver a net zero economy, but this is only possible with enough people with the right green skills and training.

"IEMA is calling for a commitment to scale up green skills and jobs in the UK and for delegates at COP28 in the UAE to prioritise a commitment to green skills and training during the negotiations. We have to give the world the best chance of action at the pace and scale needed to avoid climate breakdown”

The report featured a series of complaints, including a call for the government to ‘regain its international climate leadership’, a statement that the expansion of fossil fuel production contradicts the UK’s commitment to net zero, and for an end to airport expansion.

Lord Deben said he was “worried” about the state of UK climate policy.

Lord Deben said: “The commitment of Government to act has waned since our COP26 Presidency. There is hesitation to commit fully to the key pledges.”

“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.”

The committee also stated that the UK had ‘sent confusing signals’ on its climate policy position to the international community and that it has undermined the work it had done with the UK’s presidency of COP26.