Net Zero Strategy Unveiled

THE NET ZERO STRATEGY unveiled by the UK government today sets out how the UK will deliver on its commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

The Government says the Net Zero Strategy will secure 440,000 jobs and unlock £90 billion in investment in 2030. It comes with publication of the Heat and Buildings Strategy.

The Strategy is an economy-wide plan to transition to clean energy and green technology – lowering the Britain’s reliance on fossil fuels by investing in sustainable clean energy and strengthening our energy security.

Net Zero Strategy

As part of the strategy, new investment announced today includes:

• an extra £350 million of the up to £1 billion public funding commitment for vehicle electrification and supply chains. Another £620 million is for targeted electric vehicle grants and infrastructure, particularly on-street residential charge points, with plans to put thousands more zero emission cars and vans onto UK roads through a zero emission vehicle mandate
• £180 million to support the development of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) made from materials such as everyday household waste, flue gases from industry, carbon captured from the atmosphere and excess electricity, which produce over 70% fewer carbon emissions than traditional jet fuel on a lifecycle basis. Government’s ambition is to enable the delivery of 10% SAF by 2030
• £140 million Industrial and Hydrogen Revenue Support scheme to accelerate industrial carbon capture and hydrogen. Two carbon capture clusters – Hynet Cluster in North West England and North Wales and the East Coast Cluster in Teesside and the Humber will trial the technology in the 2020s
• £500 million towards green technologies innovation projects, bringing the total funding for net zero research and innovation to £1.5 billion.
• £3.9 billion of new funding for decarbonising heat and buildings, including the new £450 million 3-year Boiler Upgrade Scheme, so homes and buildings are warmer, cheaper to heat and cleaner to run
• £124 million boost to restore 280,000 hectares of peat in England by 2050 and treble woodland creation to 30,000 hectares per year across the UK by 2024
• £120 million towards the development of nuclear projects through the Future Nuclear Enabling Fund.

the government says that the policies and spending brought forward in the Net Zero Strategy mean that since the Government’s Ten Point Plan, it has mobilised £26 billion of public money for capital investment in a ‘green industrial revolution’.

The Net Zero Strategy is published as the UK hosts the UN COP26 climate summit in Glasgow next month. The UK will be leading international efforts to tackle climate change.

The Government says the UK has hit every carbon budget to date – today’s Net Zero Strategy sets out policies and proposals for meeting the fourth and fifth carbon budgets, and keeps the UK on track for carbon budget 6, involving a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).

Kwasi Kwarteng Secretary of State, BEIS

Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: “There is a global race to develop new green technology, kick-start new industries and attract private investment. The countries that capture the benefits of this global green industrial revolution will enjoy unrivalled growth and prosperity for decades to come – and it’s our job to ensure the UK is fighting fit.”

The Net Zero Strategy will be submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as the UK’s second Long Term Low Greenhouse Gas Emission Development Strategy under the Paris Agreement.

Published alongside these two strategies today is HM Treasury’s Net Zero Review, an analytical report which explores the key issues as the UK decarbonises. It helps to build a picture of where opportunities could arise and the factors to be taken into account when designing decarbonisation policy. While there are costs in reaching net zero, the cost of inaction is much higher.

Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, said: “We need a whole systems approach for reducing our carbon emissions. The Net Zero Strategy establishes what is needed to decarbonise our economy over the next 30 years. In particular, it highlights the intensive activity needed in the next decade – from early-stage research to deployment of mature technologies, through to better understanding on how to help people make greener choices.”

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