The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee has published the Government’s response to the BEIS Committee’s Climate Assembly UK: where are we now?-report.
Darren Jones, Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, commented: “The Climate Assembly UK has done the Prime Minister’s homework for him by agreeing the best ways to achieve our net zero target through incremental changes to the way we heat our homes, travel and live.
“The Government should listen to the public and now seize the opportunity to bring forward the policies to get to net zero.
“Ministers acknowledge the value of the Climate Assembly and recognise its importance as part of their evidence-base for policy-making on net-zero. But the Government must go further and faster in engaging the British public and in energising and motivating people about the net zero opportunities ahead of us.
“The clock is ticking to COP26 and the Government should not waste this chance to engage the whole country in the conversation around climate change.
“I urge the Government to stop kicking the can down the road and urgently come forward with the host of net-zero related initiatives they have promised, including the Treasury’s Net Zero Review.
“I hope the Government will use their Net Zero Strategy to set out a bold and ambitious public engagement plan to build consensus and maintain public trust in the policies needed to transition to net zero.”
The BEIS Committee’s report in July called for the Government to provide a point-by-point response to the recommendations of the original Climate Assembly UK report.
In their response, the Government declines to provide a point-by-point response and instead refers to the substance of its original submission to the BEIS Committee’s Climate Assembly inquiry.
The government response can be found in full on the UK Parliament website.
