Share this on social media
How Sunak’s back-pedalling on net zero could damage efforts to decarbonise Britain’s homes
(The Conversation, 21 Sep 2023) Rishi Sunak, the UK prime minister, has announced his government will scrap or delay a number of measures designed to help the UK reach net zero by 2050, with a particular focus on housing.
This includes getting rid of impending requirements for landlords and property owners to upgrade the energy efficiency of their homes with insulation and other measures. And the ban on installing gas boilers in new homes will be pushed from 2025 until 2035.
Instead, the government will rely more heavily on schemes to encourage people to make energy-efficiency improvements, such as grants to replace boilers have increased by 50% to £7,500 alongside other. But what effect is this likely to have on efforts to decarbonise Britain’s housing stock?
Several reviews of the government’s net zero strategy have already highlighted that continuous policy changes and U-turns, such as discontinuing subsidies after only a year or so, are counterproductive. These include reports by government advisers the Climate Change Committee and one chaired by the former Conservative energy minister, Chris Skidmore, which was published in January 2023.
The Conversation, 21 Sep 2023: How Sunak’s back-pedalling on net zero could damage efforts to decarbonise Britain’s homes
