According to the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) the Government needs to commit to insulating all lofts and cavity walls by 2015, or face reneging on legally binding emissions levels.
A report by the CCC to Parliament on the progress on carbon budgets found that the Government was off course on meeting reductions to emissions levels. Carbon budgets place legally binding ceilings on the level of UK emissions over a five year period, so that the UK can meet its target of an 80% reduction in emissions by 2050. Under the 2008 Climate Act, the Government is legally bound to meet a series of five-yearly carbon budgets, which cap the levels of greenhouse gases that can be emitted.
The third annual progress report by the Committee on Climate Change found that the number of cavity wall insulation and loft insulation installations slid 30% in 2010 from the previous year. Indicating a huge challenge ahead, it pointed to getting incentives right to deliver insulation.
The CCC report recommends that the Government use The Green Deal to set tough targets to insulate all lofts and cavity walls by 2015, and two million solid walls by 2020. The committee says that energy companies should be required to deliver these targets or equivalent emissions reductions under the proposed Energy Company Obligation.
“The Government should set a very clear ambition with what it wants to achieve. That means insulating all loft and cavity walls,” said CCC chief executive David Kennedy.
