UK Committee on Climate Change: Government Must Stop "Dash for Gas"

The UK government must stop the "dash for gas", David Kennedy of the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has said.

Speaking on the publication of the CCC's 2012 Climate Report, CEO of the CCC, which advises the UK government, said that the focus needed to remain on the decarbonisation of the UK's energy mix.

"[Ministers] must rule out the dash for gas, and set clear carbon objectives in the context of draft energy legislation and the forthcoming gas generation strategy," the Guardian newspaper reports him as saying. "Our analysis shows that power sector de-carbonisation is economically sensible, even in a shale gas world."

Though the report found that there had been a 7 per cent reduction in gas emission levels, this was down to factors such as weather, lower household incomes, and an increase in fuel prices. The government's measures for reducing carbon emissions from gas amounted to just 0.8 per cent gas emissions, less than a quarter of its target for 2011.

Should the factors driving gas emissions down be eliminated, Mr. Kennedy said in a statement today, emission targets for gas would be seriously impacted.

"As the economy recovers it will be difficult to keep the country on track to meet budgets," he said. "We need to tackle major challenges to drive emissions down across the economy – and to do this as a matter of urgency.  

"There are some good initiatives in the pipeline, but more is needed to improve the investment climate, and put in place incentives so that people and businesses can act. Key policies require further clarification, and gaps in the policy framework need to be addressed.  

"Investing in low carbon assets remains a priority – this will put us on the economically sensible path, and allow us to avoid higher costs and risks due to delayed action."