Committee on Climate Change 2012 Annual Progress Report

The Committee on Climate Change’s 2012 progress report looks at emissions trends over the past year and evaluates underlying progress in implementing carbon-reduction measures and policies in the UK.  It assesses performance of government policies in driving down emissions – including in areas such as Electricity Market Reform, the Green Deal and Carbon Capture and Storage. 

The report finds that Greenhouse Gas Emissions fell by 7%. But only 0.8% of this can be linked directly to implementation of proactive carbon lowering measures. This means the rate of underlying progress is only a quarter of what’s needed to meet future carbon budgets. The report also highlights challenges which remain across key issue areas namely: lack of investment in renewable energy and low carbon power; energy efficiency and renewable heat in buildings; and cleaner transport and travel.