The cost of Britain’s efforts to reduce its greenhouse gases over the next three decades is lower than previously thought and could even be neutral, according to the government’s independent climate change advisers.
The Climate Change Committee on Wednesday published the most detailed roadmap to date on a how a country can reach a target for net zero pollution by 2050, which covers everything from using more electric cars on the roads to eating less red meat.
The panel found that the savings to Britain from ending the use of fossil fuels in transport and using more efficient energy technologies would cancel out the increased investments needed. That could counter arguments that investing in green technologies will put an unnecessary burden on taxpayers and bill payers.
Balancing Out
The costs of low carbon technologies are offset by savings over time
Source: Climate Change Committee
“It’s going to breathe life into the U.K. economy, so it’s as much an economic policy as it is a climate policy, particularity over the next 10 years as we recover from the pandemic,” said Chris Stark, chief executive officer of the CCC.
The U.K. was one of the first countries to commit to reach net zero emissions in 2019. Since then, some of the world’s biggest emitters have followed suit including the European Union, Japan and China. Joe Biden has promised the same for when he becomes president of the U.S. next year.
But to meet their long-term emissions goals, countries need to set interim targets to make sure they’re staying on track. The U.K. needs to set a target for emissions to fall by 78% between 1990 and 2035, the CCC said Wednesday.
The Path to Net Zero
U.K. emissions need to fall by 78% by 2035 to stay on track
Source: Climate Change Committee
Note: Data measured in million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent