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Government Accused of Complacency in Face of Renewables Investment Drop

  • Publish Date: Posted over 5 years ago
  • Author: Steve Walia

The government has been accused of having a complacent attitude towards the falling rate of green energy investment by the House of Commons' own environmental audit committee chair.

Mary Creagh MP said that she was alarmed to read the government's response to the committee's recently published study on renewable finance.

In its report, the committee flagged up its concerns that the government had made no firm commitment to tackle the collapse in UK renewable energy investment, which has fallen by 57pc since 2016 according to figures produced by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

The committee has also spoken of their worries about the government's failure to produce a meaningful delivery plan designed to achieve Britain's fourth and fifth carbon budget. The government itself has said that it will not be able to meet the Clean Growth Strategy policies due to a lack of progress.

In its response, the government has said that it wouldn't be practical to extend an economy-wide carbon tax because a levy would need to be added to new industries and areas such as transport, heating and agriculture.

The proposed plan for 'green mortgages' was reviewed by the environmental audit committee, who said that they would need further evidence to reach a conclusion. The committee has warned the government that it must be ready to face a possible loss of funding from the European Investment Bank after Brexit. This has been used to fund a range of green energy projects across the UK in recent years.

Ms Creagh said that the government was taking a 'coasting' attitude to climate change and relying on previous wins to just about adhere to its carbon budgets without actually managing to achieve them fully. She said that industry wanted clarity from the government on its climate plans.