UK-GBC comments on Committee on Climate Change’s report

The UK Green Building Council has responded to the reports published today by the Committee on Climate Change.

The reports lay out ‘UK climate action following Paris Agreement’, ‘Implications of Brexit for UK Climate Policy’ and ‘Next Steps for UK Heat Policy’.

The Committee’s findings highlight that “current policy in the UK is not enough to deliver the existing carbon budgets that Parliament has set” and “current policies would at best deliver around half of the emissions reductions required to 2030”.

They call for a number of robust actions from Government across policy areas. In buildings specifically, they call for the use of standards, incentives and training to drive the necessary emissions reductions.

Julie Hirigoyen, Chief Executive of UK-GBC, commented:

“At a time when the Government is dragging its heels in ratifying the Paris Agreement, these reports from the Committee on Climate Change present a bleak picture of where we are with our current emissions reduction policies. They highlight an urgent need for us to do more to plug our current policy gap.

We strongly echo the Committee’s call for a long term framework to reduce the emissions from buildings.

The UK needs to be building homes which perform as they were designed to, and which will not need to be retrofitted in just 15 years’ time. A clear trajectory for Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards is essential to allow businesses to gear up, innovate and deliver against more robust standards.

“We are calling for strong representation of the building sector within the Government’s upcoming Emissions Reduction Plan and Industrial Strategy. With half of building emissions reductions policies currently dependent on the EU, these will be crucial to providing long term certainty against the backdrop of Brexit.”