Government Policy on Climate Change

The UK Government believes that climate change is the greatest long-term challenge facing the world today. An unprecedented number of hurricanes in the North Atlantic region, dramatic floods in various parts of Europe and even more scientific evidence have uncovered the dark side of fossil fuel conundrum.

Policy and High Level Programmes

The UK has already taken significant steps to meet this challenge, with policies such as the climate change levy and agreements such as the renewable obligation and energy efficiency commitment.

In early 2006, the government published the Climate Change Programme to set out its policies and priorities for action in the UK. For the full body of the programme please see link below. Here are some of the highlights of the Programme. 

Nationwide

• The government will spend £80m in the next three years to support micro-generation technologies, with the aim of encouraging manufacture at higher scale leading to lower costs.
• It will continue to support electricity from renewables under the Renewables Obligation and address barriers to take-up.

In the Business Sector

• It will continue to use the climate change levy and associated climate change agreements to encourage businesses to improve the efficiency with which they use energy
• It will maintain a strong package of support, advice and information measures to help businesses improve their energy efficiency

In the Domestic Sector

• It will introduce the Code for Sustainable Homes which will have minimum standards for energy and water efficiency at every level of the Code, with the lowest level of mandatory building regulation
• It will launch a major new initiative designed to strengthen consumer demand for energy efficiency, working closely with energy suppliers and through local authorities, with funding of £20m over the next two years

In the Public Sector

• The government will introduce a package of measures to drive additional action for local authorities to include an appropriate focus on climate change
• It will set up a new revolving loan fund of £20m for the public sector, to finance investment in energy efficiency

Current Legislation

On the domestic front, The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), with the assistance of the Building Research Establishment (BRE), has devised the Code for Sustainable Homes with the aim of bringing the various elements of sustainability into one package that can be used to provide home buyers with a ‘sustainability star rating’ for their prospective purchase. Under the proposed system, new homes would be given a star rating (1 to 5 stars) based on their sustainability in terms of energy and water efficiency, waste management and the use of materials.

EU Institutions Attention to Solar Energy
Solar thermal energy has gained unprecedented political attention at EU level. In February 2006, the European Parliament adopted with an overwhelming majority a resolution asking the European Commission to table a directive proposal to promote renewable heating and cooling.

Most governments in Europe support the trend towards solar thermal energy, through direct financial incentives, through building regulations and through awareness raising campaigns. The European Parliament has recently set a good example by installing a solar thermal system on one of their new buildings in Brussels.

In May 2006, Mr Andris Piebalgs, the EU Energy Commissioner, gave his strong political support to the launch of the European Solar Thermal Technology Platform, which he called “vital to secure the competitiveness of our industry”. It is expected that a Directive proposal might be published as early as winter 2006/2007.

Link:
The Climate Change Programme, published in 2006 - http://www.defra.gov.uk/ENVIRONMENT/climatechange/uk/ukccp/index.htm