UK Government Climate Strategy

20 Apr

Our future weighs heavily on all countries acting together to mitigate climate change. The EU remains a key stakeholder who holds each nation to their responsibility, with directives and strategies that trickle down from intergovernmental bodies and alliances.

Over time, these decisions have influenced the UK government’s climate strategy. Keep reading to find out more.

EU Directives and Strategies

The EU Directive 2001/77/EU was a European Union Directive for promoting renewable energy through electricity generation. It is popularly known as the RED Directive.

The directive, which took effect in October 2001, sets national targets for renewable energy production from individual member states. These objectives contribute toward achieving the overall EU targets.

Regulators want a 12% share of gross renewable domestic energy consumption by 2010 and a 20% share by 2020.

In 2009, the directive was replaced by Directive 2009/28/EC. This effectively mandated the hopes of the earlier directive for 20% of the bloc's final energy consumption to be produced from renewable energy sources by 2020 as part of its drive to cut carbon dioxide emissions. This policy later became part of the EU 2020 Energy Strategy from 10th November 2010. The key objectives of the strategy were to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20%, increase the share of renewable energy to 20%, and achieve energy savings of 20% or more.

2006 Stern Review

In 2005, the Chancellor of the Exchequer commissioned a report entitled ‘The Economics of Climate Change’.

This was a remit to consider:

The economics of a low-carbon world, looking at the medium-term and the long-term.
The different approaches we could take to adapt to Climate Change
Specific lessons for the UK regarding its existing climate change goals.

The main findings included:

There is still time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change if we take strong action now.
Climate change could have very serious impacts on growth and development.
The costs of stabilising the climate are significant but manageable, delaying action would be dangerous and much more costly.
All countries need to tackle the issues, this doesn’t have to limit economic growth.
A range of options to cut emissions already exists, where strong, deliberate policy is needed.
Climate change demands an international response, based on a shared understanding of long-term goals and agreement on plans for action.

The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review has become one of the most influential reports on climate change since its release by Her Majesty’s Treasury of the UK Government in October 2006. The report was published as a volume in January 2007 by Cambridge University Press.

In 2006 and supported by the findings of the Stern Report, the Government passed:

The Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006

This Act made provisions about

· The reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases

· The alleviation of fuel poverty

· The promotion of microgeneration and

· Use of heat produced from renewable sources

· Compliance with building regulations relating to emissions of greenhouse gases and the use of fuel and power

· The renewables obligation relating to the generation and supply of electricity and the adjustment of transmission charges for electricity

This was the first wide-ranging legislation aiming at seriously changing the way the country acted on Climate Change. In 2008 it was followed by an act that set binding carbon reduction targets for 2050 and was the first legally adopted legislation on Climate Change Reduction targets in the world.

The Climate Change Act 2008

This Act set the following targets for the year 2050:

· The reduction of targeted greenhouse gas emissions

· Providing a system of carbon budgeting

· Establishing a Committee on Climate Change

· Establish trading schemes to limit greenhouse gas emissions

· Encourage activities that reduce or remove emissions from the atmosphere

· Make provision about adaptation to climate change

· Make schemes to provide financial incentives to produce less domestic waste and to recycle more of what is produced

· Plan the collection of household waste

· Charging for single-use carrier bags

· Update the Energy Act 2004 regarding renewable transport fuel obligations

· Form new carbon emissions reduction targets

The Planning and Energy Act 2008

Alongside the Climate Change act came another Planning Act, which gave Local Authorities the power to insist on reasonable standards, and to be met by new applications covering renewable energy generation.

The Code for Sustainable Homes 2007

The Code for Sustainable Homes (the Code) was introduced in England in April 2007 as a voluntary national standard to improve the overall sustainability of new homes. It set out a framework for the home building industry to design and construct homes with better environmental standards. The code also gave new homebuyers information about the environmental impact of their new home, as well as its potential running costs.

The Code measured the sustainability of a home against nine design categories, rating the ‘whole home’ as a complete package.

The design categories are:

• Energy and CO2 Emissions

• Water

• Materials

• Surface Water Run-off

• Waste

• Pollution

• Health and Wellbeing

• Management

• Ecology

The Code uses a rating system to measure the overall sustainability performance of a home. A home can achieve a rating from one to six stars depending on how well it meets Code standards. One star is the entry-level, and six stars is the highest level.

As the use of the Code developed it became mandatory for all publicly funded housing to have a minimum rating of 4. The Government intended for this to reach Code 6 by 2016. At the same time, all existing rental properties would have to increase their EPC ratings annually, achieving Level C by 2020. This still exists but the target date is 2030.

There were plans also to make the construction of commercial buildings Zero carbon by 2019.

As a result of huge pressure from Developers and House Builders, the Code for Sustainable Homes was scrapped by the Government, and the requirements for Zero Carbon homes and Offices were removed by Government in July 2015.

In more recent years, the need to act in accordance with these bills has only become more pressing and people have started to seek urgency and action over written plans and spoken promises.

To find out about the UK Government’s recent Climate Action, click below.

Learn more

Sources:

· A brief history of climate change - BBC News

· A European Green Deal | European Commission (europa.eu)

· Climate change in the United Kingdom - Wikipedia

· David Cameron promised the greenest government ever – and failed. Now Theresa May is following his lead | The Independent | The Independen t

· Dentons - The UK's approach to climate change – and how the construction industry can help achieve net zero targets: an overview

· DIRECTIVE 2001/77/EC Renewable electricity — European Environment Agency (europa.eu)

· N. Stern ‘A Blueprint for a Safer Planet’ 2009 Bodley Head, London

· newbook.book (legislation.gov.uk) (Climate Change Act 2008)

· Planning and Energy Act 2008 - Wikipedia