"Net Zero is the economic opportunity of the 21st century" - Net Zero Review Final Report

Fri 13 January 2023 View all news

The Net Zero Review Final Report, published today, says that Net Zero is the economic opportunity of the 21st century. Review Chair, Chris Skidmore MP, says that the UK has "reached a tipping point" and that the "risks of 'not zero' are now greater than the associated risks of taking decisive action on Net Zero now".

The 340-page 'Mission Zero' report, commissioned by the Government last autumn, makes 129 recommendations designed to maximise economic investment, opportunities and jobs while working towards achieving legally binding targets to reach Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Zemo Partnership hosted one of the 50+ roundtable workshops to inform the Net Zero Review which also received over 1800 submissions.

The over-riding message of the report is that the UK's future growth is dependent on rapidly embracing the opportunities afforded by the Net Zero target. However, policy needs to be more consistent, joined-up and dynamic. The UK risks "falling behind" on some targets and needs a "new approach", the report says.

Amongst specific recommendations, the report calls for the development of a cross-sectoral infrastructure strategy by 2025 encompassing electricity, hydrogen, other liquid and gaseous fuels and CO2 networks that support the UK's green economy. The report says that the "scale of this challenge, and its breadth, is too much to be left to the whims of individual projects".

The Review comments on the number of respondents frustrated by a lack of long-term thinking and 'siloed' behaviour from Government departments, and uncertainty over the length of funding commitments suggesting this is holding back deployment of green technologies, hampering investment across all sectors, and inhibiting the ability to create British jobs.

To unlock this, and bring the clarity, certainty, and consistency desperately needed, the Review recommends:

  • An over-arching Government financing strategy by the end of 2023, giving long-term clarity to business and investors and ensuring the UK capitalises on its industrial strengths
  • A long-term programmatic approach to Net Zero projects and considering longer-term funding certainty for major priorities for Net Zero – where long-term policy commitment will be essential for success
  • An Office for Net Zero Delivery, responsible for placing net zero delivery at the heart of Government thinking, ensuring best practice for key delivery projects, and taking ownership of Net Zero priorities where they span multiple departments

The report also calls for a ramping up of public information about Net Zero and for greater engagement with the public around the issue. To support this it proposes introducing a standardised approach to ecolabelling by 2025, including the introduction of a Net Zero Charter Mark. 

The report calls for the Government to fully back at least one "Trailblazer" Net Zero city, local authority and community, with the aim for these places to reach Net Zero by 2030.

Transport is strongly featured in the Review final report, though energy-related issues generally take prominence. The linkages between energy and transport through infrastructure is identified as a crucial area of focus.

Key transport-related proposals are for:

  • Swift delivery of a ZEV mandate to apply from 2024 while maintaining regulations and funding to support EV/ZEV uptake and continuing to drive emission reductions from internal combustion engines
  • Government to publish the Low Carbon Fuels Strategy in 2023
  • Government to continue to work with industry to set out a clear programme by 2024 to accelerate decarbonisation of the wider freight sector through modal shift and deployment of new technologies, building on the Future of Freight Plan
  • Government to reduce delays to anticipated reforms by bringing forward the delayed Future of Transport Bill this Parliament
  • Measures to encourage the choice of active travel or public transport, or using shared services
  • Government to adopt a public engagement strategy to communicate to people the need to reduce car journeys and about the benefits of doing this
  • Government to amend the regulatory framework to incentivise transport providers to increase demand and improve services, and to work with them on this vision, by 2024
  • Government to act to reduce the costs of public transport
  • Enable the provision of long-term finance, required for initiatives to decarbonise the existing transport fleet
  • Measures to enable intermodality so people can more easily take different modes of transport to complete a journey
  • To develop a decarbonisation strategy for Non-Road Mobile Machinery (NRMM) by the end of 2023
  • Electric vehicles to be made more accessible to those who need them and for improvements in public charging infrastructure including cost discrepancies, which mean those without home charging have to pay a lot more

Analysis by the Review team finds that the average household will make a saving of £400-6,000 by 2050 under Net Zero measures, partly because of the fact that EVs are cheaper to run than petrol and diesel vehicles.

However, there are clear challenges and inequalities resulting from the structure of current EV charging infrastructure. The report calls for the equalisation of VAT rates between home and public charging and for the opportunities afforded by cheap overnight charging to be fully embraced (an issue which has been in the mainstream of discussions by the Zemo-facilitated EV Energy Taskforce)

Chris Skidmore MP, Net Zero Review Chair, said: "My recommendations are designed to make the most of this historic opportunity, covering the length and breadth of our economy, so that people in every part of the country can reap the benefits of this both in their communities, and in their pockets."

Commenting on the Net Zero Review, Business and Energy Secretary Grant Shapps said: "With a wealth of talent and expertise, and a track record to be proud of, the UK is well placed to ensure that tackling climate change also brings new jobs and investment for businesses and communities."

Professor Lord Stern, Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics said: "Chris Skidmore and his team deserve great credit for carrying out a rigorous, robust, and inclusive review of the evidence on the economics of the UK’s net-zero transition.

"In particular, the review has argued convincingly that the transition to a Net Zero economy is the growth opportunity of the 21st century, and the UK is well-placed to benefit from the increasing demand for Net Zero goods and services, if it makes the right public and private investments. 

"I hope the Prime Minister and his Government will respond to the review with the urgency and scale required to prevent this enormous economic opportunity from slipping through our fingers. This transition, and the investment and innovation it embodies, are at the core of the UK’s growth story for the coming decade."

Zemo Partnership's Chief Executive, Andy Eastlake said: "I am glad that Zemo was able to play a part in supporting this important report which clearly shows that the UK's economic prospects are directly tied to achieving Net Zero by 2050 and that - as seen in the Transport Decarbonisation Plan - Government needs to set clear, robust and consistent policies and rapidly implement them if we are to reap the full benefits from this transition.

"The report makes clear that working in partnership across sectors and well beyond existing silos will be required...it also highlights that the public need to be properly informed so we can move forward together on this journey; both areas in which Zemo has specialised and focused efforts and resources over the last 20 years.

"The Net Zero Review shows that we are heading in the right direction but also that we urgently need to step up the pace as well as bring everyone along with us."

 

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