London, 17 January 2023 – The MCCG and EIUG cautiously welcome Chris Skidmore’s Net Zero Review. It provides practical recommendations to maximise economic investment, minimise the cost of decarbonisation and create the necessary low carbon skills. Both organisations call on Government not to ignore his recommendations to;
– consider the risk of production moving abroad as a result of climate action (i.e. carbon leakage) and ensure that sufficient mitigation measures are in place;
– extend the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund further and increase its budget by £185 million, in line with the Conservative Manifesto;
– develop and implement an ambitious and pragmatic ‘10 year’ delivery roadmap for the scaling up of hydrogen production and act quickly to re-envisage and implement a clear CCUS roadmap, by the end of 2023.
Ignoring these recommendations in Chris Skidmore’s review risks decarbonisation of industry by deindustrialisation and carbon leakage.
Arjan Geveke, EIUG Director, comments:“Now is the time for the Government to act. Meeting the UK’s climate change objectives can be an opportunity for industry, but only if Government introduces new funding, provides mitigation measures against the risk of carbon leakage, and works with industry to create a supportive business environment with competitive energy and carbon prices to enable investment in decarbonisation.“