MPs on the cross-party Environmental Audit Committee have launched a new inquiry exploring the government’s plans to decarbonise to net zero by 2050.
The inquiry will consider the measures needed to achieve the Seventh Carbon Budget, which covers the years 2038-2042, and how the costs of delivering it will filter through to households and businesses.
Carbon budgets, established by the Climate Change Act 2008, cap the total greenhouse gases the UK can emit over five-year periods. Six have been set so far; the UK is currently in the period covered by the fourth carbon budget (2023-2027).
The government is due to publish a revised delivery plan for the Sixth Carbon Budget by the end of October. The High Court ruled the previous plan unlawful as it did not provide enough evidence to demonstrate how the UK would meet emissions targets.
Questions the Committee will consider through its inquiry include:
• How the costs of delivering the Seventh Carbon Budget will be distributed across households, businesses and regions, and what is needed to ensure fairness, resilience and public support
• How the government should balance proven technology solutions such as heat pumps with those still emerging, such as carbon capture
• How ministers can engage the public in its plans for the next Carbon Budget and explain the costs of inaction to build understanding and tackle misconceptions
• What tools Parliament can use to scrutinise the government’s plans for delivering Carbon Budgets