The UK risks missing its carbon targets and harming investment because of a string of recent cuts to green measures, ministers have been warned by the government’s statutory climate advisers.

Lord Deben, the chairman of the committee on climate change and a former Conservative environment minister, has written a strongly-worded letter to energy secretary Amber Rudd to tell her that the government is creating confusion among potential investors in the low carbon economy.

His words chimed with those of John Cridland, director general of the CBI and widely regarded as the most senior voice in British business, who on Monday said the government was sending a “a worrying signal about the UK as a place for low-carbon investment”.

Former Conservative MP John Gummer, chair of the committee on climate change. Photograph: Amer Ghazzal/Alamy

Deben wrote: “The government has made a series of announcements about existing low-carbon policies. Unfortunately, these have been widely interpreted to have reduced the action being taken to meet the clear commitment to carbon budgets. They have, in some areas, left a policy gap which urgently needs to be addressed. As a package, they have raised questions over the future direction of low-carbon policies.”

The lack of long-term signals from government “could well lead to stop-start investment, higher costs and a risk that targets to reduce emissions will be missed”, he warned.

In a highly unusual move from the chairman of the climate change committee, he referred to several current government policies that he said were of concern. These included the scrapping of the “green deal” on insulation, with no indication of any replacement and the abolition of the “zero carbon homes” standard, also without a replacement.



Deben wrote: “The UK’s ability to meet carbon budgets at least cost depends on firms and households making long-term investments and decisions based on how they think UK policy will unfold over a 10-15 year period. From that perspective, the announcements potentially present problems as the cumulative impression has been of a weakening of the policy framework. This is largely because the ending of measures has not been accompanied by a clear statement about what improved measures will be put in place.”

He also asked about the government’s plans for phasing out coal-fired power generation, which ministers are supposedly agreed to, but on which the government has so far been silent. “It would be particularly useful were the Government to set out its plans for achieving this, which should be possible with minimal impact on energy bills,” he wrote in his letter, dated 22 September.

With regard to the government’s controversial moves to cut support for renewable energy, he pointed out that “these new technologies are often competing against incumbents who do not pay their full cost and that innovation through all stages often requires public support. It is essential therefore that funding is not withdrawn too early.”

The government has slashed support for solar power, and all but ended the building of new onshore wind farms, while increasing taxpayer funded support for oil and gas, from both the North Sea and fracking.

In as statement, the Department of Energy and Climate Change replied to Lord Deben’s letter: “We are determined to reduce emissions in the most cost-effective way whilst keeping bills as low as possible for hardworking families and businesses. Government support has already driven down the cost of renewable energy significantly, helping technologies to stand on their own two feet.

“As costs continue to fall it becomes easier for parts of the renewables industry to survive without subsidies. This doesn’t detract from the fact that we are pushing for a strong global deal in Paris [the UN climate summit in November and December] that creates a level playing field for business and drives innovation.”