The Environmental Audit Committee has told the Government it needs to show more vision on waste, insulation for businesses and homes and public transport in order to meet climate change goals.
MPs on the committee have warned the Government that it is in danger of not meeting its responsibilities for the third carbon budget from 2018-22 and the fourth from 2023-27.
In a report on progress in meeting the carbon targets, the committee said that arrangements for managing and reporting against carbon budgets have not been working properly.
Additionally, the Government’s Carbon Plan, which set milestones for five key departments including DECC and Defra, is out of date according to the committee.
It also noted that quarterly progress reports against milestones have not been published as promised and current departmental business plans are not aligned with the plan.
Environmental Audit Committee chair Joan Walley MP said: “The Government’s current carbon plan seems to have been cobbled together merely to meet the legal requirement under the Climate Change Act. We want to see this become a working document that is fully aligned with Departmental Business Plans with meaningful milestones measured on a quarterly basis and an oversight board that is properly empowered to hold departments to account.
“The Government should be introducing innovative policies now to ensure that Britain is well on the way to going green by the middle of the 2020s. Ministers need to show much more vision now on how we can cut waste, improve our public transport and insulate more homes and businesses from rising fuel costs.
“If we leave these changes for another ten years it will become much more expensive to meet our climate change targets and we will be left behind by successful green countries like Germany.”
