Net Zero Strategy 2.0: What should go in the UK's updated climate plan

As the legal deadline for when Ministers must produce an updated Net Zero Strategy draws closer, WWF's Isabella O'Dowd looks at what it should include.

Next month the government is required to produce an updated climate strategy showing how it will meet its own targets. This responsibility will fall to Grant Shapps, Secretary of State for the newly-minted Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Secretary of State.

The Net Zero Strategy, published ahead of COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021, set out a pathway for how the UK might meet its Sixth Carbon Budget. It was the first time that sector-by-sector decarbonisation pathways had been laid out. However, WWF's assessment of the strategy found that the policies and investment required to get us on track to meet them were lacking. 

It was not alone in reaching this conclusion. In July 2022, the High Court found the Net Zero Strategy was 'unlawful' because it does not meet the obligations under the Climate Change Act to produce detailed climate policies that show how the UK's legally binding carbon budgets will actually be met.

The Climate Change Committee judge that credible plans exist for around a third of the required emissions reduction to meet the Sixth Carbon Budget in the 2030s. These plans include both policies announced in the Net Zero Strategy and polices announced since it was published. But they also estimate that 33 per cent of the required emissions reductions do not have sufficiently detailed plans for delivery; and five per cent of the required emissions reduction have no plans for how they will be delivered at all.

We need government to publish clear policies and long-term commitments to deliver on targets in a way that allows business and industry to confidently plan ahead and act. And there needs to be a specific focus on our energy and food systems - which are two of the biggest contributors to climate change.

Earlier this year, Chris Skidmore's Net Zero Review highlighted that the drive to reach net zero was the economic opportunity of the 21st Century. It provided evidence backed up by roundtables with businesses and 1,800 submissions to their call for evidence that net zero can improve the quality of life for people all over the country, providing hundreds of thousands of green jobs, attracting innovative new industries, catalysing ground-breaking research and development projects. As Chris Skidmore reminded Parliament, it took three months to complete his Review; which equates to one per cent of the time left to achieve our 2050 target.

So, what needs to happen? WWF would like to see the government accept and adopt many of the recommendations set out in Chris Skidmore's Review to make sure we maximise the opportunities set out by the review. The UK must act decisively, and provide clarity, certainty, consistency, and continuity to allow businesses to invest.

For starters, a Net Zero Investment Plan can ensure the government understands how much public and private money is flowing to key sectors for net zero and creates policy to crowd in private investment where there's not enough. Underpinned by a tracker to assess how public tax and spending is affecting our climate targets, it could unlock the immense economic opportunities of net zero.

The idea has strong backing from business and financial institutions and would result in a rapid and dynamic feedback loop of information and action between policymakers and markets, boosting investor confidence and minimising transition costs.

A Net Zero Land Strategy, meanwhile, could ensure that agriculture and land use moves from being one of the weakest areas in the current strategy, to delivering ambitious outcomes for climate, nature and people right across the UK. We need to see a clear action plan for how the government intends to deliver a net zero nature-friendly farming and land use sector in the UK, including recognition of the importance of diet shift in enabling decarbonisation.

Finally, the government must the accelerate the decarbonisation of the energy system. To increase the UK's energy security, tackle the root cause of soaring energy bills, and reduce emissions, Ministers need to turbocharge the transition away from fossil fuels. This includes accelerating the rollout of renewables, decarbonising heating, and reducing energy demand through improving the energy efficiency of homes.

The net zero clock is ticking, and the window for action is closing in front of our eyes. Nature and a safe climate underpin the health and wealth of our nation. We can't hide from reality: a strong economy needs strong foundations, and - if the government fails to put climate and nature crisis at the heart of its plans - our economic foundation will be fundamentally unsound. We need a strong Net Zero Strategy and we urgently need our leaders to step up and take action.