The all-encompassing programme of switching the UK to a permanent low carbon footing has been published by the Government.
The comprehensive UK Low Carbon Transition Plan details how the UK will meet a 34 percent cut in emissions by 2020 and spells out how the nation can maximise the economic opportunities, growth and jobs.
The report says that transforming the country into a cleaner, greener and more prosperous place to live is at the heart of the Government's economic plans for developing Britain’s future and ensuring the UK is ready to take advantage of the opportunities ahead.
By 2020, the radical green programme aims to deliver the following changes:
* More than 1.2 million people will be in green jobs
* Seven million homes will enjoy pay-as-you-save home energy makeovers, and more than 1.5 million households will be supported to produce their own clean energy
* 40 percent of electricity will be from low carbon sources, from renewables, nuclear and clean coal
* Half the quantity of gas will be imported than would otherwise have been the case
* The average new car will emit 40 percent less carbon than now
* From today, every government department has been given a carbon budget alongside their financial budget.
The Transition Plan is the most systematic response to climate change of any major developed economy, and sets the standard for other nations in the run up to crucial global climate talks in Copenhagen in December.
The programme claims to take a cost-effective route to reducing carbon and keeps the overall impact on the consumer to a minimum.
According to the Government, today’s plan will not increase average energy bills by 2015, compared to now. By 2020, the impact of ALL climate change policies, both existing and new, will be to add, on average, an additional eight percent - or £92 - to today’s household bills.
The plan also includes greater powers for the regulator Ofgem to protect the consumer and, following new legislation, new resources for discounts off the bills of some of the most vulnerable households.
The Low Carbon Transition Plan was published alongside the UK Low Carbon Industrial Strategy, the Renewable Energy Strategy that maps out how we will deliver the UK’s target of getting 15 percent of all energy (electricity, heat and transport) from renewables by 2020, and the Government’s Low Carbon Transport Plan, which sets out how to reduce carbon emissions from domestic transport by up to 14 percent over the next decade.
Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said: “The UK was the first country in the world to legislate for carbon budgets. It was a dramatic change in approach. This is a transition plan for Britain, a route-map to 2020, with carbon savings expected across every sector and a carbon budget assigned to every government department alongside its financial budget.
“Renewables, nuclear and clean fossil fuels are the trinity of low carbon and the future of energy in Britain. Under our plans we will get 40 percent of our electricity from low carbon energy by 2020 and more in the years afterwards.
“Our plan will strengthen our energy security, it seeks to be fair to the most vulnerable, it seizes industrial opportunity and it rises to the moral challenge of climate change.
“In five months, the world must come together at Copenhagen and follow through on the commitment of world leaders last week to stop dangerous climate change. Today we have shown how Britain will play its part.”
And Business Secretary Lord Mandelson added: “The strategies we are launching today outline the Government’s vision for achieving a low carbon future for the UK, reshaping the way we live and work in every element of our lives. This is a challenge that every economy is facing, and we are determined that by setting clear policy now Britain positions itself to benefit both economically and environmentally from the transition.
“The UK is already the sixth largest economy for low carbon goods and services, globally worth £3 trillion and growing, and today the Government is outlining how its support for the economy will ensure our businesses and our workforce continue to lead the way. We must combine the dynamism of the private sector with a strategic role for Government to deliver the benefits of innovation, growth and job creation in the UK.”
The UK is the first country in the world to set itself legally binding ‘carbon budgets’. Under the Climate Change Act 2008 emissions of greenhouse gases are constrained in each successive five-year period.
The Transition Plan sets out how the Government will cut emissions by 34 percent on 1990 levels by 2020 from the main emitting sectors – power, homes, workplaces, transport and agriculture – on the way to achieving a reduction of at least 80 percent by 2050. Every government department has today been allocated its own carbon budget, as the Government pilots a new system to run alongside financial budgets.
Departments will have to live within these when taking major policy decisions and managing their buildings and, according to the report, failure could have real financial implications for Government.
John Holland, Cumbria around 2 years, 6 months ago