The Government will encourage the public to switch to heat pumps and electric cars in a push to cut Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions by more than half in just over a decade.
Under Keir Starmer’s green plans, the Government will look to incentivise people to make the switch to clean energy – after he ruled out imposing extra bans or taxes.
The Prime Minister used his trip to the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan to announce that the UK’s new climate target is to reduce emissions by 81 per cent compared to 1990 levels by 2035, a cut of around 60 per cent from now.
He repeatedly insisted that the goal is attainable without having to impose curbs on the public’s everyday activity, saying that he would not “start dictating to people what they do”.
A Government insider said: “We are not saying we won’t incentivise people to make greener choices, such as minimum efficiency standards and heat pump uptake, but we won’t ban things. The demand curves on electric cars, heat pumps and other green technology keeps heading upwards, and we are techno-optimists.”
As well as stopping the use of fossil fuels to generate electricity, ministers plan to keep nudging the public to pick greener alternatives such as buying an electric car or replacing their boiler with a heat pump – which are currently subsidised to the tune of thousands of pounds.
The independent Climate Change Committee, which recommended the 81 per cent target, also suggested that it would require significant changes in public behaviour including a reduction in how much meat people eat.
But asked at a press conference whether he would push for lifestyle changes, Starmer – who is a vegetarian – replied: “The target is my target and the plan is my plan, I’m not borrowing from somebody’s else’s plan. The target is as I’ve set out today.
“I don’t think that as we tackle this really important issue the way to do it is to tell people how to run their lives and instruct them how to behave.” He added that he had previously promised to lead a Government that “trod lightly on people’s lives”.
Ministers believe that meeting an ambitious pledge to eliminate fossil fuels from the UK’s electricity grid by 2030 will help the country decarbonise without affecting anyone’s quality of life.
Starmer said: “We are not going to start dictating to people what they do. But we are going to be clear that that involves hitting the clean power 2030 mission that we have set out, one of the five big projects of the Government. That is vital, so we will hit that, it is an ambitious target, it is a realisable target, but it is not going to be one in which we tell people how to live their lives.”
However, the Government will also keep in place mandatory rules such as a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars – which will be moved forward to its original date of 2030 after previously having been delayed by Rishi Sunak – and more stringent minimum standards on the energy efficiency of new homes.
The Government also remains committed to a promise that the clean energy push will cut bills by up to £300 a year, according to insiders. A source said: “We still say we will cut people’s bills and we still believe it will be up to £300.”
The Prime Minister has insisted that the battle against climate change will boost the UK economy – hinting that the expected cancellation of the US’s green commitments will hand Britain a more prominent leadership role on the issue.
He said: “The race is on for the clean energy jobs of the future, the economy of tomorrow. I don’t want to be in the middle of the pack, I want to get ahead of the game.”
UN climate chief Simon Stiell welcomed the UK’s new commitment, saying that it “sets a powerful example for other G20 nations to take note” and would be “the ticket to an ever stronger economy, lower costs, more jobs, investment and growth”.
Green campaigners also praised the announcement but called for more detail on how the target would be attained.
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