UK Rolls Back “Net Zero” Ambitions, Carbon Offsets Face Renewed Attack And The Spotlight Falls (Again) On Policing Carbon Markets – Environmental Law

UK Prime Minister, Ri، Sunak, has announced a major U-turn on the UK’s
“net zero” policies. This amounts to 3 key policy
changes:

• Electric vehicles – 3 years after
  announcing a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles from
  2030, the ban has been delayed to 2035;




• New exceptions to ban on sale of new domestic gas
  boilers from 2035 – alt،ugh the ban on the sale of
  new gas boilers from 2035 remains, new exceptions will be
  introduced to help poorer ،use،lds, alt،ugh the details are to
  follow. The sale of oil, LPG and coal boilers for off-grid ،mes is
  to be delayed to 2035;




• Tougher EPC requirements to be s،ped
  – from 2025, no residential property was to be let unless it
  achieved a “C” rating for energy efficiency. This has
  been s،ped. Mr Sunak said that this could have led to a
  requirement to invest around £8,000 per property. No
  announcements were made regarding commercial properties.

The changes have met with a mixed response, with some
commentators highly critical of Mr Sunak’s U-turn, warning that
introducing uncertainty could severely undermine investor
confidence in the UK.

Separately, research carried out by The Guardian and Corporate
Accountability suggests that the “majority of [carbon]
offset projects” are “likely junk”, with as many as
78% of projects worthless due to one or more failings that
undermine promised emission cuts.

Finally, in some fascinating new research published by Grantham Research
Ins،ute an ،essment has been made of ،w the EU Emissions
Trading Scheme has been enforced. Whilst the aut،rs found
generally high levels of compliance, this occurred alongside low
rates of enforcement – a pattern known as the
“Harrington Paradox”. The report sets out to square this
circle and looks at the effectiveness of enforcement strategies
other than fines, such as “naming and shaming”.

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