Expanding Heathrow airport is unlikely to be compatible with the UK’s target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, leading scientists have said, adding that government policies are lacking in many other key areas from home insulation and transport to carbon capturing.

Achieving the net zero goal will require sweeping policy changes, but scientists are concerned that little has so far been forthcoming from ministers.

Home insulation and energy efficiency are essential to reducing carbon emissions from heating, but have been left in a “policy vacuum”, said Dr Charlie Wilson, a reader in energy and climate change at the University of East Anglia.

Systems to capture and store carbon dioxide would also be needed, but previous government attempts to kickstart the technology over the past two decades have been abandoned, said Jim Skea, professor of sustainable energy at Imperial College London. Skea said the UK had many advantages over other countries in CCS, such as spent oilfields in the North Sea to use as storage, the skills and infrastructure from oil and gas exploration, and public backing for the technology, but needed the government to step in.

Corinne Le Quéré, professor of climate change science at UEA, called for the government to prioritise the net zero goal across all policy areas.

“Every minister should have a plan for their own [policy area] on how to reach net zero,” she said. “Some infrastructure must be phased out. Ministers should be preparing in a way that is well coordinated and fair, so that the public are brought on board.”

No part of government, and no part of the economy and society, could be left unaffected if the push towards net zero was to be successful, said Skea. “We really need to do it all,” he said. “Nothing can be wiped off the table. No sector can be left to not contribute – really, this needs contributions from absolutely everything.”

There is no cabinet minister with responsibility for achieving the net zero target, and no intermediate goals before 2050, apart from the advice on carbon budgets from the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), the government’s statutory advisors.

On Thursday, the CCC called for major changes to the UK’s land use, including more trees, the restoration of peatland and an end to the burning of grouse moors, to improve the UK’s carbon sinks.

The expansion of Heathrow, which was given a green light under Theresa May, was not consistent with the net zero goals, a group of six experts said on Friday.

“I find it difficult to imagine we can control emissions from aviation if we continue to build airports,” said Le Quéré. “We absolutely need ambitious plans for mobility and transport. We need a plan that covers roads and airports.”

Pierre Friedlingstein, professor of mathematical modelling of climate systems at Exeter University, said: “This is a clear example of not going in the right direction.”

Wilson said: “We desperately need consistent, concerted direction [from the government] and building new airport capacity is not that.”

Skea said it was possible for people to continue taking flights under a net zero target, but that the rapid growth of flying in recent years must be curtailed. “It’s not that people must stop flying, but that the increase in flying should be less than it otherwise would be,” he said.

One way of achieving this fairly would be through a frequent flyer levy, according to Lorraine Whitmarsh, professor of environmental psychology at Cardiff University. “The sense that it is a fair policy is very important,” she said. “These policy interventions are likely to be quite effective.”