Members of Parliament want more say on government plans to achieve emissions cuts in the run-up to 2050, the nation’s legally binding net-zero target date.
“MPs should have the opportunity to scrutinize robustly the policy proposals put forward to meet the government’s climate goals,” Philip Dunne, chairman of the Environmental Audit Committee, said in a statement Tuesday. It accompanied a letter to Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho, outlining a plan for more input.
Britain is falling behind on many of the measures identified by the independent Climate Change Committee as critical to meet the nation’s climate goals. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last year announced plans to roll back some of the government’s green agenda, including delaying a ban on the sale of new cars that burn petrol or diesel. He also said Parliament should consider how to achieve emissions cuts when it approves trajectories for the curbs.
Dunne’s letter offers to provide that debate, adding scrutiny to the outlooks from the Climate Change Committee and government’s plans. The UK is now considering its carbon budget for the period from 2038-2042.
“The government is not required to explain to Parliament how it proposes to meet carbon budget targets until after the legislation setting the targets has been passed,” Dunne said in his statement. “This ought to change.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said the government is committed to existing climate targets and will review the proposals from the parliamentary committee. It published statistics Tuesday that showed the UK cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% between 1990 and 2022, the first major economy to halve its emissions.
“We will continue to meet out targets but in a pragmatic way that doesn’t clobber extra costs onto hard working families,“ Coutinho said in an emailed statement.
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