UK government's climate change advisers want you to cut back on meat, fly less and cycle to work
Britons should eat the equivalent of one less burger a week, cycle rather than drive, and get a heat pump for their home if the UK is to hit its ambitious Net Zero pledge. That is the conclusion of the government's advisers on tackling , who warned current plans will not deliver on legal targets to cut emissions in the coming decades. The independent Climate Change Committee (CCC) revealed its recommendations in its annual report to Parliament on the progress being made to address Britain's contribution to global warming. It is concerned the government is relying too much on technological advances and biomass production to meet carbon reduction targets. In its 619 page report, the CCC advises ministers pay more attention to behavioural changes by nudging people towards greener lifestyle choices. These include cycling more, flying less and eating less meat so that land can be used to plant trees of biomass. It also proposed encouraging a 20 per cent shift away from meat by 2030, which would then rise to 35 per cent by 2050. On top of that is the recommendation to drive a 20 per cent shift away from dairy products by the end of the decade. An average person eats about 604g of meat per week, down from 756g in 2019. They also consume roughly 1,600g of dairy a week. Cutting meat intake by 20 per cent would be the equivalent of 120g roughly that of a standard burger patty, chicken Drumstick or two-thirds of a fillet steak. It could also, in theory, be the equivalent of someone who eats meat every day going completely meat-free at least once per week. When it comes to flying, the CCC suggests reversing the cut to air passenger duty brought in last year, as well as introducing other taxes and frequent flyer levies to encourage people not to travel by plane so much. 'The price of flying should be raised to the point that it acts as an effective signal to consumers that aviation has high emissions costs,' the report states. Of 50 key areas for action, only eight were given the green light for being clearly on track to deliver the necessary emissions cuts, including electric car sales, wind and solar power, and meat consumption. Areas judged to be significantly off track include electric van sales, charging points, energy efficiency retrofits, new woodland creation, and peat restoration. There is also a 'shocking' gap in government efforts to ensure homes are better insulated in the face of soaring energy bills, the climate advisers said. They singled out energy efficiency to make UK homes less leaky and cheaper to heat, along with a lack of action on farming emissions, as particular problem areas. A fast, sustained push to improve energy efficiency in homes and switch to electric heating, such as heat pumps, to reduce fossil fuel consumption would help people cope with high energy prices, the panel said. The average annual energy bill for UK households is around 40 more than it would be if insulation had carried on at rates seen before policy support was removed in 2012, and British homes are among the most heat-leaking in Europe. Household energy bills are already at a record high of 1,971 and predicted to hit 2,800 in October more than doubling since last year. The report calls for the government to consider increased funding for energy efficiency in fuel-poor homes, as well as a widespread publicity campaign for its promised new energy advice service and policies to incentivise home-owners to improve their properties. The committee also said it supports moving the costs of historical green subsidies off electricity bills and into general taxation to cut energy costs and encourage people to move to electric heat pumps. But more recent arrangements for paying for renewables are saving consumers money through cheap wind power. The installation of insulation measures 'fell off a cliff' a decade ago, according to the committee's chief executive, Chris Stark. He described the situation as a 'complete tale of woe', with an industry devastated by the removal of support in 2012 being expected to gear up again and consumers expected to demand energy efficiency without any policy measures to support them. 'We call this shocking, that's what it is,' he said. 'We absolutely must be doing something about this at scale; making homes better insulated is absolutely a critical factor, especially when we're experiencing such high energy prices.' Mr Stark said there are better ways to deal with high energy prices than the package of payments announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who, he said, should be supporting insulation to save on bills. CCC director of analysis Mike Thompson said: 'There has never been a better time to insulate your house, with gas prices at the levels that they are, the pressure on imports and energy security. 'This is the time for the government to be bold and to help people to do what a lot of people want to do anyway,' he said. The annual report said UK greenhouse gases are now almost half (47 per cent) their 1990 levels, with emissions rising 4 per cent in 2021 as the economy began to recover from Covid-19 but still 10 per cent below 2019 levels. Advisers also warned that the public are increasingly concerned about climate change but people are not sure how they can best take action, with greater engagement needed. For the first time this year the committee has set out progress against a series of on-the-ground changes that need to be made across society to keep the UK on track to end its contribution to climate change. CCC chairman Lord Deben said the government should provide people with the information they need in areas such as insulating homes, which he said is not being the 'nanny state', and work with local authorities to deliver on energy efficiency. He added: 'The UK is a champion in setting new climate goals; now we must be world-beaters in delivering them. 'In the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, the country is crying out to end its dependence on expensive fossil fuels. 'I welcome the government's restated commitment to net zero, but holes must be plugged in its strategy urgently.' He rated the government nine out of 10 for the targets it has set, but only four out of 10 for delivery of action on climate change. A spokesperson for the government said: 'The UK is forging ahead of most other countries with around 40 per cent of our power now coming from cleaner and cheaper renewables. 'This is backed up by 6bn of funding to make our homes and buildings more energy efficient, planting up to 30,000 hectares of new trees a year, and more electric cars than ever before on our road. '[We are] decarbonising our cars and vans faster than any other developed country.'