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Government plans to improve the energy efficiency of 20,000 council houses are “wholly inadequate” and a “drop in the ocean” compared to what is needed, the Green Party has said. Environmental groups and local leaders said a new pot of funding to upgrade social housing does not go far enough to help keep down fuel bills and reduce emissions from homes across England. Around £179m has been spread across under 70 councils in England for projects aimed at improving the energy performance of homes in the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund’s first wave of funding. The second wave is set to run next financial year. The government said this support would help thousands of council houses to become more efficient, helping to reduce household bills and their carbon footprint.But Polly Billington, the chief executive of the UK100 network of local leaders, told The Independent: “Any new money to improve social housing is welcome, but helping 20,000 homes is a drop in the ocean when 2.5 million households live in fuel poverty.”She added: “We need to accelerate plans to support our homes, which are some of the leakiest in Europe, and ensure the Conservative manifesto commitment to spend £9bn on energy efficiency is met in full.”Cara Jenkinson from the climate change charity Ashden said the £179m pledge represented the “fraction” of the estimated £100bn needed to decarbonise all social housing. The 2019 Tory manifesto pledged £3.8bn to the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund over 10 years.Zoe Nicholson from the Green Party said the fund was “wholly inadequate”. “It is a drop in the ocean compared to what is needed to make all social homes warm and healthy,” she said. “Some councils report that their award under this fund represents around just three per cent of what is needed.”Green groups and councils toldThe Independent last month progress in decarbonising council houses and private properties was being hindered due to the way schemes work and gaps in support. Councils bid for funding in the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund’s first wave last year, with a trial run before this handing out £62m to 16 local authorities for projects. Ms Nicolson told The Independent this scheme was an “inefficient way of allocating funds”. “Writing bids involves a huge amount of work which is completely wasted for those authorities which are unsuccessful,” the Green New Deal spokesperson for the Green Party said. “Addressing the climate emergency and helping those facing fuel poverty are too important to be dependent on a competitive bidding process.”Homes are estimated to account for around a fifth of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions. Experts say reducing their reliance on fossil fuels and improving their energy efficiency – for example, with better insulation – is key to tackling the climate crisis.Last autumn, the government published its Heat and Building strategy, which, among other measures, included a grant for homeowners to upgrade gas boilers to heat pumps.The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has been approached for comment. More

Environmental groups have accused the UK of “torpedoing climate action” and “disregarding science” amid reports six new oil and gas fields are to be approved in the North Sea this year. Rishi Sunak – who said last week he wanted to encourage more investment in new fossil fuel drilling – is reported to have pressed the business secretary to fast-track applications.A new oil and gas field in the North Sea has already been given the green light this year – just two months after the UK held the global climate Cop26 summit. Green groups fiercely criticised the move, accusing the government of hypocrisy and taking action that “only worsens the climate crisis.It is set to be followed by half a dozen more approvals for fossil fuel drilling this year, according to The Telegraph. The sites have reportedly already been given a preliminary licence by ministers and are expected to be approved by the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), the UK regulator.The Telegraph reported there were fears in the Treasury over how the move to net-zero could impact the economy, while a Whitehall source told the newspaper the business secretary was “pushing for more investment in the North Sea” during the transition for “domestic energy security” as well. Philip Evans, oil campaigner at Greenpeace UK said: “This would represent a stunning retreat from the pro-climate posturing we saw from the government at the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow.”He added: “Rishi Sunak’s climate busting drive for fossil fuels is clearly against the spirit of that declaration and against the demand of the British people that climate is a top matter of concern.” Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green Party said: “Boris Johnson urged global leaders at Cop26 to ‘defuse the bomb’ of climate change. Now his own government is torpedoing climate action by granting permission for more climate wrecking oil and gas to be extracted from the North Sea. She said more oil and gas fields “disregards the science” and ignores the International Energy Agency’s call for these to be halted. The UK declined to join an international alliance aimed at ending new oil and gas projects at the Cop26 summit in November hosted in Glasgow.MPs and experts told The Independent the UK needed to shift to renewables to protect itself from energy crises such as the current one – which is behind soaring household bills. Mr Sunak also faced criticism over his endorsement of more investment in new fossil fuel drilling in the North Sea last week. The chancellor said the UK needed natural gas as part of its transition to net zero – but environmental groups slammed it as a step in the wrong direction amid current climate goals. According to the International Energy Agency, natural gas is the “cleanest burning” fossil fuel – but still emits greenhouse gases. Downing Street confirmed that six applications for extension of North Sea drilling were currently under consideration, but said they all related to oil and gas fields licensed in the past – some as long ago as the 1970s.Their development proposals would go through the usual processes with the OGA, as well as environmental impact assessment and a public consulation, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said. “No decisions have been taken,” they added. The OGA declined to comment on reports of six new oil and gas fields. A Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy spokesperson said: “There will continue to be ongoing demand for oil and gas over the coming years as we transition to cleaner, more secure forms of energy generated in this country.“As the business secretary has said, turning off our domestic source of gas overnight would put energy security, British jobs and industries at risk, and we would be even more dependent on foreign imports”.The Treasury has also been approached for comment. More

The UK needs to shift to renewables to protect itself from energy crises such as the current one, politicians and experts have said.The country has been urged to move to this “incredibly cheap” and green source of energy as household bills are set to rocket yet again.The current energy crisis behind the rising cost of living has been sparked by surging gas prices, shining a light on the UK’s reliance on this fossil fuel. MPs and experts have said renewables are the answer to making the UK less vulnerable to this volatile market.Adam Corlett, the principal economist at the Resolution Foundation think-tank, told The Independent the current energy crisis “puts up in lights both our over-reliance on fossil fuels, and how we should have done more to ensure that everyone’s home is well-insulated”.He said: “Britain’s energy bills crisis is far from over – and should serve as a warning to quicken our transition towards a net zero economy”.A further increase to the energy price cap was confirmed on Thursday, paving the way for millions to see household bills rise by more than 50 per cent. Following this, Sam Hall, the chair of the  Conservative Environment Network, said: “We’ll be exposed to similar crises for as long as we are so reliant on gas”.He added: “The government must now deliver its net zero strategy to make UK households less exposed to global gas markets.”A Telegraph report has suggested that Cabinet ministers are questioning whether the move to net zero emissions – which the government has committed to by 2050 – was the right thing to do amid the energy crisis and soaring bills.But Ed Miliband, the shadow climate change and net zero secretary, told The Independent a “failure to transition to zero carbon” has made the UK “more vulnerable as a country”. “Climate delay will make us more dependent on fossil fuels, leaving us more exposed to unstable global gas prices, meaning higher bills, and undermining our energy security,” he said. Jamie Peters from environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth told The Independent: “Renewable energy is incredibly cheap and there’s an abundance of it at our fingertips. Knowing this, every effort should be made to increase our supply, and attempts to discredit the net zero agenda shouldn’t be taken seriously.”On the same day the UK’s energy price cap increased, Rishi Sunak said he wanted to encourage more investment in oil and gas drilling in the North Sea. But Green Party MP Caroline Lucas said the UK would not emerge from the energy crisis through a “rapid U-turn to the fossil fuel era”. Writing inThe Independent, she said the solution was through “rapidly speeding up the transition to energy efficiency and renewables so we address the climate emergency and make ourselves less vulnerable to global price rises”. Greg Hands, the energy minister, also said the UK needs to generate “more clean, secure and affordable power” in order to protect itself from volatile gas prices, as he “debunked” some “myths” around energy. Experts have previously told The Independent the current energy crisis has been fuelled by the government dragging its feel on renewable energy – which faced a blow when a previous Tory government removed subsidies for onshore wind farms for several years. A Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy spokesperson said: “Since 2010 we have delivered a 500 per cent increase in the amount of renewable energy capacity connected to the grid – more than any other government in British history.“We remain committed to go even further and faster to build a homegrown renewables sector and reduce our reliance on volatile fossil fuels, and just last month we launched the biggest renewable energy auction to accelerate deployment.” More

Rishi Sunak has been criticised for a “mind-blowing” announcement he wants to encourage more investment in new fossil fuel drilling, with environmental groups saying this was a step in the wrong direction. Campaigners accused the chancellor of “siding” with the oil and gas industry and hypocrisy given current climate goals.Scientists previously said there was no room for new fossil fuels if the world wants to reach net zero emissions by 2050 – with the UK having set this target for itself. But Mr Sunak said on Thursday he wanted to encourage investment in the North Sea given the resources there.“We’re going to need natural gas as part of our transition to getting to net zero,” he said. “And in the process of getting from here to there, if we can get investment in the North Sea that supports British jobs, that’s a good thing.”But his comments have been slammed by environmental campaigners and climate policy experts. “For Rishi Sunak to encourage new investment in drilling for fossil fuels in the North Sea is utterly mind-blowing,”  Giles Bristow from climate crisis charity Ashden told The Independent.“Climate change is here – now. The business community accepts the science that unequivocally tells us we have to move on from old, dirty fossil fuels and deliver a rapid but managed transition to a clean net zero economy.”According to the International Energy Agency, natural gas is the “cleanest burning” fossil fuel – but this still emits greenhouse gases. Gas prices has also been held responsible for the ongoing energy crisis, which has resulted in rising household bills in the UK. A further energy price cap increase was confirmed on Thursday, paving the way for bills to increase yet again in spring. Tessa Khan from campaign group Uplift told The Independent: “The chancellor has chosen to side with the oil and gas industry.“Yesterday, he dumped all the costs of soaring gas prices on UK households rather than claw back some of the obscene profits these companies are making.”Meanwhile Jamie Peters from Friends of the Earth said: “The chancellor acknowledges that the energy crisis is a result of our dependency on gas, but then declares his ambition to unlock £11bn of investment in the North Sea. He added: “This is blatant hypocrisy after months of government posturing in the run up to the UN climate talks.”The Treasury has been approached for comment. More

The UK needs a new motoring tax for electric cars to avoid “zero revenue” by 2040, MPs have said. The Transport select committee called for a change in the current taxation system to reflect a move towards greener vehicles. Pure electric cars are exempt from road tax and their motorists do not have to pay fuel duty either – both of which bring in around £35bn a year, according to the report.The parliamentary committee said: “Policies to deliver net zero emissions by 2050 are likely to result in zero revenue for the government from motoring taxation by 2040.”“In addition to generating taxation to fund essential public services, motoring taxation plays a key role in managing congestion by regulating demand to use public roads.”The MPs added: “If the government fail radically to reform motoring taxation, the UK faces an under-resourced and congested future.”The report urged the Treasury and the Department for Transport to have a “honest conversation” about how to maintain investment in roads and public services as the UK moves towards vehicles that do not pay towards these two motoring levies. It said the departments should work together to set up an arm’s length body to come up with recommendations for a new road-charging mechanism by the end of the year.The sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans will be banned in the UK from 2030 in a move designed to kick-start the electric vehicle market. A survey last year found participants believed electric cars will already outnumber diesel ones on UK roads by this time. Huw Merriman, the Tory chair of the Transport Committee, said zero-emission vehicles were part of “ambitious” government plans to get the UK to net zero emissions by 2050.“However, the resulting loss of two major sources of motor taxation will leave a £35bn black hole in finances unless the government acts now – that’s 4 per cent of the entire tax take,” he said.“Only £7bn of this goes back to the roads; schools and hospitals could be impacted if motorists don’t continue to pay.” Steve Gooding from the RAC Foundation said the “silver-lining of zero-carbon motoring comes wrapped in a cloud of trouble for the chancellor”.The director of the transport policy and research group said: “Drivers choosing to go electric deserve to know what is coming next – particularly if the promise of cheap per-mile running costs is set to be undermined by a future tax change.A government spokesperson said: “The government has committed to ensuring that motoring tax revenues keep pace with the changes brought about by the switch to electric vehicles, whilst keeping the transition affordable for consumers.“We will respond to the committee’s recommendations in full in due course.” More

Rishi Sunak has said he wants to encourage more investment in new fossil fuel drilling – potentially derailing the UK’s climate targets.Scientists said in the run-up to the COP26 climate summit last year that new fossil fuel exploitation is incompatible with reaching net zero in time.But the chancellor said on Thursday that encouraging drilling under the North Sea would “support British jobs” and should get the green light.”I want to make sure that people acknowledge that we should also exploit our domestic resources,” he told a press conference.”We have resources in the North Sea, and we want to encourage investment in that because we’re going to need natural gas as part of our transition to getting to net zero.”And in the process of getting from here to there, if we can get investment in the North Sea that supports British jobs, that’s a good thing. So that has to be part of the mix as well.”The chancellor’s comments come after the government invited oil and gas companies to help write a rulebook on whether new drilling complies with the UK’s climate obligations.Ministers have previously been accused by environmentalists of living in a “fantasy” for claiming new drilling is compatible with taking action to tackle the climate emergency.Mr Sunak’s comments conflict with a report by the International Energy Agency, commissioned by the UK’s own Cop26 president Alok Sharma, which warned last year that new oil and gas production was incompatible with reaching net zero by 2050. A separate domestic review carried out by the government, however, said that drilling could proceed subject to some conditions.Those conditions are now set to be determined in part by the industry itself, which has been invited to develop a “checkpoint” that would decide which drilling projects could proceed.The International Energy Agency’s pathway to net zero by 2050, drawn up in May 2021, says that, under a balanced scenario, “there are no new oil and gas fields approved for development” after 2021. More

EU member states are to take legal action against the European Commission after it decided to count natural gas and nuclear power as green energy.The European Union’s executive controversially included the two fuels in its “taxonomy” this week – opening the door to more investment in them.The rules spell out what can be classed as “environmentally friendly” for the purposes of investing, an increasingly valuable category when it comes to attracting capital. Critics accused the Commission of “greenwashing” the fuels, which emit carbon and produce long-life radioactive waste respectively.But Commission officials say the two fuels are only included in the plans subject strict conditions: a CO2 emissions limit for gas and for nuclear, a requirement to have a plan and funding for dealing with waste. Now two member states, Austria and Luxembourg, have said they will challenge the policy proposal in the courts.Austrian minister for climate protection Leonore Gewessler, a Green, said the Commission was satisfying the “wishes of the nuclear power lobby” and said his government “will bring a lawsuit to the European Court of Justice”.Meanwhile Luxembourg’s minister for energy Claude Turmes said: “Luxembourg strongly reaffirms its opposition to the inclusion of nuclear and fossil gas in the decision on EU Taxonomy for ‘sustainable’ finance of the EU Commission. We will consider further legal steps together with Austria.”The European Council and Parliament could yet object to the Commission’s move, but blocking it would require the agreement of 20 of the 27 national leaders or a majority in the parliament.The decision highlights the different approaches to green energy in different member states. Germany, which has significant political heft at EU level, relies heavily on gas, while France produces most of it electricity from nuclear energy.Some of the bloc’s eastern states including Poland still rely heavily on coal power. Other countries, like Spain – which is also against the decision – have invested heavily in renewable energy.Energy commissioner Mairead McGuinness said the inclusion of gas and nuclear was important because “we need to use all the tools at our disposal” to reach the climate-neutral target. She said private investment was “key”. More

The government has given the green light for an expansion of Bristol Airport to the dismay of the council which originally rejected the plans.The decision comes just weeks after the UK – which has committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050 – hosted the global Cop26 climate summit.Bristol Airport’s application to expand was originally rejected by North Somerset Council. But this was overturned by a government agency on Wednesday following an appeal.This means the airport will be able to go ahead with plans that will see capacity increase from 10 million passengers a year to 12 million.The Planning Inspectorate, who made thedecision, looked at how the proposal could impact air quality, the climate crisis and noise.It concluded: “The balance falls in favor of the grant of planning permission.”Local politicians have fiercely criticised the decision.Carla Denyer, a Bristol City councilor and co-leader of the Green Party, said: “Allowing Bristol Airport to expand – more than doubling its capacity – is an outrageous decision that is totally incompatible with the climate emergency.“The government’s intervention on the side of the airport goes against the wishes of local people, councils and elected representatives.”North Somerset Council, which rejected the original application, said it was considering whether there are grounds for appeal.“This simply flies in the face of local democracy and disregards the views of the local communities who fought equally hard to resist the expansion,” council leader Don Davies said.“It completely undermines our vision for a greener North Somerset, our determination to tackle the climate emergency, and the target we have set for the area to be carbon-neutral by 2030.”The Planning Inspectorate said there was no doubt the proposal “would increase CO2 emissions from aircraft”.But considering factors such as national policy and measures already in place, it said: “The conclusion must be that the aviation emissions are not so significant that they would have a material impact on the government’s ability to meet its climate change target and budgets.”Dan Norris, West of England metro mayor, criticised the government’s lack of policy on the expansion of UK airports.“I am dismayed but not at all surprised by this decision. The government is in chaos on UK airport expansion as on pretty much everything else,” he said.North Somerset Conservative MP Liam Fox said he was “hugely disappointed” at the appeal being allowed, and environmental campaigners also criticized the decision.“The local transport infrastructure around Bristol Airport cannot sustain this amount of traffic without substantially impacting the quality of life in many of our towns and villages,” Mr Fox added.Dave Lees, chief executive of Bristol Airport, said: “The decision is excellent news for our region’s economy, allowing us to create thousands of new jobs in the years ahead.“We will now push ahead with our multi million-pound plans for net-zero operations by 2030 and look forward to working with stakeholders and the community to deliver sustainable growth.”The airport said the expansion would add 800 jobs at the site itself and up to 5,000 more across the region.It sai in a statement: “Bristol Airport put sustainability at the heart of their expansion proposals and will now push ahead with its multi-million pound plans for net zero operations by 2030.”The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, to which the Planning Inspectorate for England belongs, has been approached for comment More