Britain’s transition to net zero by 2050 would cost less than a single fossil fuel price crisis, according to new analysis from the Climate Change Committee.
The independent statutory body found that every pound invested in reaching the climate target delivers between 2.2 and 4.1 times its value in wider benefits.
The findings were published as part of the committee’s latest economic assessment supporting its advice on the Seventh Carbon Budget.
The report concluded that reaching net zero represents the most cost-effective long-term path for the UK economy across all scenarios tested.
According to the analysis, the transition would generate a net benefit to society when compared with continued reliance on fossil fuels.
Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice previously criticised climate targets in a February policy address, instead pledging to abandon emissions goals.
Speaking at a steel stockholding facility in Dudley last month, Mr Tice outlined Reform UK’s proposal to boost domestic fossil fuel production.
He said: “We all know that to be a rich nation, you have to have cheap, plentiful energy.”
Mr Tice also called for expanded oil and gas extraction in the UK, adding: “Lincolnshire gas for Lincolnshire jobs for Lincolnshire growth.”
The transition to Net Zero could deliver up to four times the economic benefit of its costs, a report has claimed
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However, the Climate Change Committee’s analysis suggests the economic costs of delaying the transition could be higher.
The committee estimates that reaching net zero would require investment of roughly £4billion each year.
This equates to around £100billion by 2050.
The report states that this figure is comparable to the energy-related costs caused by the fossil fuel price shock following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The committee also estimated that avoiding climate-related damage could deliver savings of between £40billion and £130billion by 2050.
Energy efficiency improvements represent another major benefit identified in the analysis.
Richard Tice has pledged to scrap ‘Net stupid Zero’
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Under a net zero system, energy losses could fall significantly, reducing annual waste from around £60billion to approximately £30billion.
The committee also identified wider health and wellbeing benefits associated with the transition.
Cleaner air, better-insulated homes, increased levels of active travel and changes to diets could generate net benefits of between £2billion and £8billion each year by mid-century.
These benefits include reduced healthcare costs and improved public health outcomes.
Nigel Topping, chair of the Climate Change Committee, said: “In light of current world events, it is more important than ever for the UK to move away from being reliant on volatile foreign fossil fuels, to clean, domestic, less wasteful energy.”
Meanwhile, the UK’s Energy Secretary Ed Miliband also welcomed the findings.
He said: “It is highly significant that the Climate Change Committee has found that the transition to net zero is cheaper for our national economy than the entire cost of the last gas price crisis, and can protect families from future fossil fuel price shocks.”
Bob Ward, policy director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, said accelerating electrification using domestic clean energy could deliver “substantial and long-lasting savings” for the UK economy.
Despite rising gas prices, Reform UK has also indicated it would remove incentives designed to encourage households to install heat pumps.
Greenpeace have hit out at Reform UK’s plans
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Paul Morozzo, climate campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said removing such incentives would leave households “even more exposed to the gas markets that are clobbering businesses and households with higher bills”.
Mike Childs, head of science at Friends of the Earth, said investment in domestic renewable power and home insulation would help reduce bills as well as emissions.
He added: “Solar and onshore wind are now far cheaper than new gas or nuclear, cutting bills as well as emissions.”
John Flesher of the Conservative Environment Network criticised proposals to expand fracking.
He said: “Fracking is a distraction from the real problems our country faces.”
