Lighthouse | ICE Viewpoint
Net zero policy delays: pragmatism or playing politics?
A“more honest debate” with the public about net zero is needed, prime minister Rishi Sunak said in a speech last month.
He said he wanted to ease the cost to the public of the net zero transition.
BY ART WE MASTER WHAT WOULD MASTER US
To facilitate this, policies on electric vehicles, heat and energy efficiency were all scaled back, although the overall 2050 net zero target remains firmly in place.
Until now, most of the UK’s decarbonisation efforts, such as the growth in renewable energy generation, have been behind the scenes. Little action has been required from the public.
But as the clock ticks ever closer to 2050, this can no longer be the case. Public choices will become more important than ever in the net zero transition. Indeed, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) has estimated that over 65% of emissions reductions to 2035 alone must involve some form of public choice.
On one hand, Sunak is right to say that public support is integral to efforts to meet the UK’s net zero ambitions. Overall public endorsement of net zero is strong, with 71% of British adults backing the 2050 target, although ICE polling has shown that people would find it difficult to take specific actions.
It is also beyond doubt that the rising cost of living, driven by an increase in inflation, will have made people less likely to spend money on significant new investments, like installing a heat pump.
Civil engineers and infrastructure professionals can design, build and maintain the infrastructure systems needed for net zero, but it will all be for nothing if the people those systems serve are not engaged and incentivised.
Buying more time is a pragmatic approach, assuming this provides the opportunity for the government to set out its public engagement strategy – something the ICE has been requesting for some time.
On the other hand, there has been strong political consensus on climate change policy for decades.
Reversals and delays could be just the start of a General Election campaign in which that consensus becomes increasingly at stake: net zero risks being made into a wedge issue at a time when global surface temperatures are near their highest-ever levels.
Achieving net zero will not be cheap, although the benefits could be substantial.
Falling behind competitors in the global decarbonisation shift would present its own risks, while failing to tackle climate change would result in a much bigger hit to GDP.
“The Office for Budget Responsibility, concluded in 2021 that taking early action to achieve net zero would cost far less in the long termThe government’s own fiscal advisor, the Office for Budget Responsibility, concluded in 2021 that taking early action to achieve net zero would cost far less in the long term. Taking early action would add 21% of GDP to public sector net debt by 2050; a smaller amount than that added in just two years by the Covid-19 pandemic.
And with the CCC warning back in June that current decarbonisation policies would not be enough to meet carbon budgets, delays and rolling back on stated commitments only make it less likely that the government will meet its targets.
There is little time to waste, so the ICE and All-Party Parliamentary Group for Infrastructure will soon begin a programme of work on public engagement and net zero to better understand how to find solutions to these pressing problems and ensure the public is engaged in the transition.
- Contact policy@ice.org.uk for more information.
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