Blog: Climate Change Committee’s 2022 Progress Report

By: Giorgio Buttironi

Policy and Research Manager
gbuttironi@maritimeuk.org

On 29 June, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) published its 2022 Report to Parliament, assessing the Government’s progress in reducing emissions against the UK’s statutory carbon budgets.

The Report shows that the shipping emissions fell by 2% every year in the decade to 2021, with savings driven by a 26% fall in domestic shipping activity and a 7% reduction in outbound international freight shipping, due to significant reductions in the quantities of oil and coal being transported. Overall, the sector accounted for 3% of the UK’s total emissions in 2021, with just over half of that coming from international shipping.

Key Messages 

  • The Government has a solid Net Zero strategy in place, but important policy gaps remain.
  • Tangible progress is lagging the policy ambition. With an emissions path set for the UK and the Net Zero Strategy published, greater emphasis and focus must be placed on delivery.
  • Successful delivery of changes on the ground requires active management of delivery risks. Not all policies will deliver as planned. Some may be more successful than expected, while others will fall behind.
  • Action to address the rising cost of living should be aligned with Net Zero. There remains an urgent need for equivalent action to reduce demand for fossil fuels to reduce emissions and limit energy bills.
  • Slow progress on wider enablers. The Net Zero Strategy contained warm words on many of the cross-cutting enablers of the transition, but there has been little concrete progress.
  • The UK must build on a successful COP26. The UK presidency of the UN COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in November 2021 successfully strengthened long-term global ambition and introduced new mechanisms to support delivery. It should prioritise making those new mechanisms work in practice and strengthening global 2030 ambition, while preparing for a focus on climate finance and adaptation at COP27 in 2022 and COP28 in 2023.

Recommendations to government on maritime sector

  • Provide support and incentives to drive private-sector investment in low-carbon maritime fuels, engine technologies, and storage facilities.
    • Responsibility: DfT
    • Timeline: Ongoing
  • Commit to the UK’s first clean maritime cluster(s) operating at commercial scale, supplying at least 2 TWh/year of zero-carbon fuels, by 2030 at the latest.
    • Responsibility: DfT/BEIS
    • Timeline: 2022
  • Publish the Course to Zero consultation.
    • Responsibility: DfT
    • Timeline: 2022
  • Embed the Course to Zero into the next update of the Clean Maritime Plan.
    • Responsibility: DfT/BEIS
    • Timeline: 2022
  • Consider how to avoid the extension of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme to shipping displacing activity to higher-carbon alternative modes (e.g. road freight).
    • Responsibility: BEIS/DfT
    • Timeline: 2022
  • Complete legislative changes for inclusion in the Carbon Budgets of NF3 from the Fourth Carbon Budget onwards and international aviation and shipping from the Sixth Carbon Budget onwards.
    • Responsibility: BEIS
    • Timeline: Q1 2023
  • Build upon the recent call for evidence to develop a plan for deploying shore power and electric recharging infrastructure at all of the UK's major ports.
    • Responsibility: DfT
    • Timeline: Q1 2023
  • Build upon the proposals for the UK Emissions Trading Scheme and the UK MRV regulations to explore options for an activity-based measure of UK shipping emissions.
    • Responsibility: DfT/BEIS
    • Timeline: 2023
  • Report on progress in identifying green shipping corridors and the actions to implement them, as agreed within the Clydebank Declaration.
    • Responsibility: DfT/Cabinet Office/ 10 Downing Street
    • Timeline: 2023
  • Take a leadership role in pushing for inclusion of a Net Zero 2050 target within the 2023 update of the International Maritime Organisation's initial greenhouse gas strategy.
    • Responsibility: DfT/Cabinet Office/ 10 Downing Street
    • Timeline: 2023