The UK has made substantial progress in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, achieving a reduction of over 50% and meeting all its targets so far.
However, recent policy reversals and delays have slowed this momentum, which underlines that the UK is not on track to reduce its emissions in 2030 by 68% compared to 1990 levels.
To meet this ambitious target, the UK must accelerate its transition away from fossil fuels and increase the deployment of low-carbon technologies like offshore wind, solar power, and heat pumps.
Urgent action and investment are essential to maintain the UK’s position as a global leader in climate action.
Commenting on the Climate Change Committee’s newly released Progress Report, Don said: “We’ve known about the need to decarbonise for a long time now, yet the interventions are simply not taking place at the scale and pace required to address such a serious – and urgent – issue.
“Extreme weather and natural disasters are becoming increasingly commonplace – climate change is taking place before our very eyes and becoming impossible to ignore.
“We know that buildings have a significant role to play in delivering on this commitment, but while building emissions have fallen, we’re seeing a much smaller reduction than projected.
“This is unfathomable in an era where we have the tools to understand how properties are working in practice, improve their efficiency, and reduce emissions at our fingertips.
“While we have immediate targets to meet, short-termism is not the answer – we need funding and sustained, evidence-led programmes that make it simple for businesses and people to implement lower carbon measures.
“With a new government now in power, our decarbonisation endeavours will be determined by how priorities come into fruition through policy – and how people and industry put this into practice.
“The new Government has the opportunity to put decarbonisation high on its agenda.
“Having seen the global problems caused by failing to meet climate targets, this new government can take a stance not just to get the UK on track, but to demonstrate leadership to other countries on this journey.”
