The UK’s battle cries on net zero have led to nothing – and now time is running out

theguardian.com:

I n 2019, the government passed legislation that committed the nation to achieving a goal of net zero emissions of greenhouse gases by the middle of the century. It was one of the most ambitious targets set by any country in the battle to halt the worst effects of climate change. This is a nation committed to limiting global temperature rises, claimed Conservative party leaders.

Sadly those proud battle cries and that Churchillian rhetoric have not been matched by action. For the past four years, government departments have failed to put in place any coherent policies that could help limit carbon emissions.

This neglect had already become abundantly clear last summer when the high court ruled – ironically, on one of the hottest days on record in Britain – that the government’s strategies had failed to meet its obligations to produce a detailed plan for achieving its carbon cut commitments. Little appears to have changed since then.

Delivery on net zero was always going to need strong action by all government departments. None passed muster, with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) emerging as one of the worst laggards, with its secretary of state, Thérèse Coffey, giving the clear impression she simply does not take climate policy seriously.

Across government, words have not been followed by action. Consider the issue of heat pumps. Up to 600,000 per year would be installed by 2028, the nation was promised. In this way, we would phase out gas-burning, carbon-emitting central heating systems from millions of households. However, a House of Lords committee revealed last month that there was now no chance of meeting that target. A mere 50,000 heat pumps were installed last year – and this was at a