The UK Government launched its landmark Net Zero Strategy on October 19 setting out how the UK will secure 440,000 well-paid jobs and unlock £90 billion in investment in 2030 on its path to ending its contribution to climate change by 2050.
Building on the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan, the UK Net Zero Strategy sets out a comprehensive economy-wide plan for how British businesses and consumers will be supported in making the transition to clean energy and green technology – lowering the Britain’s reliance on fossil fuels by investing in sustainable clean energy in the UK.
The commitments made will unlock up to £90 billion of private investment by 2030, and support 440,000 well-paid jobs in green industries in 2030.
As part of the strategy, the UK government has pledged to “kick-start the commercialisation” of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). “Our ambition is to enable the delivery of 10% SAF by 2030 and we will be supporting UK industry with £180 million in funding to support the development of UK SAF plants”.
Part of the package also includes a £140 million industrial and hydrogen revenue support scheme to accelerate industrial carbon capture and hydrogen, with two carbon capture clusters - Hynet Cluster in North West England and North Wales and the East Coast Cluster in Teesside and the Humber - backed by the government’s £1 billion in support.
The Net Zero Strategy will be submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as the UK’s second Long Term Low Greenhouse Gas Emission Development Strategy under the Paris Agreement.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “By boosting our world-leading sustainable aviation fuels programme with £180 million in funding, we can accelerate the development of sustainable aviation fuel plants in the UK and create thousands of green jobs across the country.”
Jonathan Edwards, Transportation Market Leader – EMEA, GHD, has warned that these ambitious targets, while aspirational, hinge on companies’ efforts to decarbonise transport. “Whilst this strategy is nationally ambitious, it is heavily dependent upon international commitment and cooperation. The Prime Minister states that by 2050 “our planes will be zero emission allowing us to fly guilt-free” but without global agreement and alignment, we have little control over the planes in our skies. Unless, of course, we plan on putting a final nail in the coffin of our aviation industry by banning anything other than electric aircraft from UK airports.
Struggling airlines across the world have been forced to temporarily mothball a large number of aircraft, with nearly 30% of British Airways planes inactive as recently as September. Given the long asset lifecycle and return on investment periods on aircraft, it requires relevant incentives and major investment by airlines to transition to zero emission planes and make many of their existing assets obsolete in the process.”
Edwards has also criticised the lack of any insight into the cost of decarbonisation and its impact on the UK transport market: “In order to succeed, the government will need to utilise and maximise a range of levers, including changes to taxation and regulation, wider roll-out of carbon pricing, reviews of public spending, and the enablement of private investment and the role of the private sector. It is unclear how this will be led when we anticipate cuts to public spending, including at the Department for Transport, through the Spending Review and a Budget that will be unlike previous years…. the UK public needs to realise that this cost will fundamentally be borne by us all as passengers on public and private transport, in the goods we buy and the taxes we pay.”
