The Climate Change Committee (CCC) has presented its Seventh Carbon Budget (CB7) a new pathway to a decarbonised UK. The CCC sets out how to achieve this by 2050, and what decisions need to be made in the coming years to ensure success.

The CCC also sets out how to meet an interim target of emissions reductions of 87 per cent (compared to 1990 levels) by 2040. Although the UK has already achieved a reduction of over 50 per cent, in order to move to the target figure a sea change in energy use is required.

Electrification makes up 60 per cent of emissions reductions by 2040. This includes decarbonising the grid and replacing fossil fuelled cars and heating systems with electric alternatives (EVs and heat pumps). This would mean four in every five cars should be EVs and half of homes should have heat pumps within 15 years.

Interim chair, Professor Piers Forster, said: “The Committee is delighted to be able to present a good news story about how the country can decarbonise while also creating savings across the economy. For a long time, decarbonisation in this country has really meant work in the power sector, but now we need to see action on transport, buildings, industry, and farming. This will create opportunities in the economy, tackle climate change, and bring down household bills.”

The CCC calculates that the majority of the cost of these changes will be borne by the private sector, and that savings should outweigh costs by the early 2040s.

CB7 policy specific areas include:

Agriculture and land use (7 per cent reductions) where the CCC recommends decarbonising machinery, dietary change, the uptake of methane inhibiting feed additives and an increase in woodland, trees and healthy peatlands as creation greater food security, natural carbon sinks and flood defence.

Surface transport (27 per cent reductions) via EV sales, with fully electric options accounting for nearly all new car and van sales by 2030 and making up over three-quarters of the fleet on the road by 2040.

Aviation (5 per cent reduction). Growth in aviation demand is managed through ensuring that the cost of decarbonising aviation is reflected in the price of flying. The share of sustainable aviation fuel used increases gradually, with a growing portion of this coming from synthetic fuels in the 2040s.

Electricity (12 per cent reduction from better energy use). Electricity use will increase, especially during the 2030s, driven by the switch to EVs and heat pumps. To meet this growth and decarbonise the system, low-carbon generation will need to be rolled out quickly, with offshore wind farms the backbone of the system.

Industry. The largest share of emissions reduction (11 per cent) comes from electrification of industrial heat processes and carbon capture and storage. CB7 sees hydrogen playing a small but important role in subsectors which may find it hard to electrify.

A 24 per cent emissions reduction will come from other sectors across fuel supply, non-residential buildings, shipping and waste.

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