The government has published its strategy on how the UK will deliver on its commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
Carl Packman, Head of Corporate Engagement at Fair By Design said:
“The UK’s strategy to reach Net Zero, outlined by the government, comes at an extremely turbulent time, with energy bills going up and on the eve of COP26. Households being able to participate in this transition rests on a number of assumptions of the market delivering certain results: reducing our reliance on gas; heat pumps being installed at significantly lower prices than at present; and the costs of operating them in our homes being lower.
“It’s encouraging to see a mention of specifically targeting decarbonisation measures on low income households in the Treasury’s plan. Commitments on this are vital because if left unchecked, the transition towards Net Zero could become extremely costly for those households who have the least flexibility in their budgets.
“What we would like to see in the near future is firm commitments from government to provide full grants to low income households for heat pumps, and financial assistance towards the transition to Net Zero more generally. These grants should be publicised and easily accessible – learning lessons from where access to grants has gone wrong in the past. We also need to ensure there are appropriate price protections on household heat sources, including for electricity, to cover the cost of operating heat pumps. These are key if we want to use the transition to net zero as an way of also lowering household bills.”
