Boris Johnson’s plans to turn Britain Green by 2050 at a cost of £1trillion may not go far enough to help counter climate change, a Government report suggested today.
The PM published the most detailed proposals yet for how the country will become Net Zero within 30 years, rejecting alarm at the potential costs to families and businesses hit hard by the Covid pandemic.
It came weeks before he hosted the Cop26 UN climate change conference in Scotland.
As well as clean flights, a shift to electric cars by 2035, and gas boilers out by 2030, there will be a focus on encouraging homeowners to be more environmentally-conscious. That could include incentivising mortgage lenders to prioritise properties with better energy ratings.
But the UK’s Third Climate Change Risk Assessment, released by the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs, identified 61 ‘climate risks cutting across multiple sectors of our society’.
And it noted: ‘The risk assessment concludes that 34 of 61 risks are ranked as ”more action needed”, meaning that new stronger or different government action is required in the next five years over and above those already planned.’
It added: ‘The evidence indicates that the costs of climate change to the UK are high and Increasing.
‘For eight of the sixty-one climate risks, UK-wide economic damages by 2050 under 2C (of average temperature) rises are estimated to exceed £1billion per annum.’
In the most complete proposals to make the country Net Zero in 30 years’ time, the PM rejected alarm over the cost of Covid for families and businesses.
Boris Johnson, in his foreword to last October’s government document, titled Net Zero Strategy. Build Back Greener, stated that Britain would “lead this charge”.
“The risk of falling into the ”very severe” category of damage has increased since an earlier assessment by CCRA1 a decade back, when only three such risks were found.
‘For thirty-six of the risks, UK-wide damages will be at least £10 million per annum. Risks to natural carbon reserves and carbon sequestration, as well as the risks of high-cost climate change, are the most high risk areas. They also include the risks to ICT infrastructure (water, energy and transport) and to human health. There is also the possibility of flooding and productivity risks.
In a statement accompanying today’s report, Climate Adaptation Minister Jo Churchill said: ‘The scale and severity of the challenge posed by climate change means we cannot tackle it overnight, and although we’ve made good progress in recent years there is clearly much more that we need to do.
‘By recognising the further progress that needs to be made, we’re committing to significantly increasing our efforts and setting a path towards the third National Adaptation Programme which will set ambitious and robust policies to make sure we are resilient to climate change into the future.’
Last October was typical bullish. Johnson stated that he doesn’t mind leading the charge – and said history has not been written by people who are at the back.
He stated that Russia, China and China are merely following our lead – even though Xi Jinping (and Vladimir Putin) are both expected to snub COP26 in a fortnight. This summit is where Vladimir Putin wants the world’s leaders to agree to reduce carbon emissions.
China announced in the last weeks plans to increase its oil and gas exploration and build more power plants using coal.
According to the government, switching from fossil fuels, such as coal, to renewable energy can reduce dependence on imported goods and help families avoid price rises. In the next ten years, it expects to create 440,000 “well-paid” jobs.
However, there are growing concerns from the Tory backbenches at the consequences of the push – which economists say is likely to cost £1trillion over 30 years, although the bill for dealing with climate change would almost certainly be higher.