‘Half-baked, half-hearted’: critics deride UK’s long-awaited climate strategy
The UK’s new energy plan unveiled on Thursday is a missed opportunity full of “half-baked, half-hearted” policies that do not go far enough to power Britain’s climate goals, according to green business groups and academics.
The 1,000-page strategy has been criticised by many within Britain’s green sectors who fear the country could surrender its leading role in climate action because of the government’s “business-as-usual” approach to delivering green investments.
Environmental groups said the plans – which are expected to form the basis of the government’s revised strategy to meet its net zero ambitions– also risk falling short of meeting legally binding climate targets, which could trigger further court action.
Grant Shapps, the energy and net zero secretary, announced the wide-ranging strategy, which includes support for carbon capture projects, nuclear energy, offshore windfarms, electric vehicles, home heat pumps and hydrogen power.
However, most of the plans are based on existing government commitments and lack new funding.
Josh Burke, a senior policy fellow at the London School of Economics’ Grantham Research Institute, said the lack of a long-term, economy-wide investment plan “undermines investor confidence and prevents the UK from leading the green race”.
Joe Biden announced a $370bn green plan for the US last autumn to lower energy costs while accelerating private investment in clean energy solutions as part of his Inflation Reduction Act. Concerns have been raised that the huge subsidies in the plan could lure the UK’s key green industries across the Atlantic.
“Instead of grasping this historic moment the government has been left trailing behind the Inflation Reduction Act and is currently failing to capitalise on
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