The All-Party Parliamentary Climate Change Group (APPCCG) launches Policy Connect’s Climate Policy Dashboard. This interactive tool tracks government progress towards meeting net zero targets in the run up to COP26.  The launch is chaired by Tom Heap, Rural Affairs Correspondent of the BBC, with speakers; Dr Caroline Lucas MP (Green), Alan Whitehead (Labour), Alexander Stafford MP (Conservative) and Daisy Cooper MP (Liberal Democrat).

The Climate Policy Dashboard charts the Government's progress in developing domestic policy across six sectors of the economy to close the gap between our current emissions trajectory and net zero targets as the UK prepares to host COP26 talks in only six months’ time.

Dr Caroline Lucas MP, Chair of the APPCCG, noted: “We get plenty of targets from the Government but very few action plans to deliver on those targets. With four critical sectors rated as insufficient, the dashboard shows there is still an enormous amount for the Government to do to ensure the UK achieves Net Zero by 2050, and ideally earlier”.

Alexander Stafford MP, Member of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee said: “The Climate Policy Dashboard is a useful tool for parliamentarians as it highlights the urgent work needed to get on track to achieving our net zero targets across sectors of the economy. The dashboard assesses progress by comparing domestic climate policy introduced by Government to a set of recommendations from the Climate Change Committee (CCC) providing key actions the Government can take to decarbonise ahead of COP26.”  

The power sector has seen the fastest emission reductions of all UK sectors, driven by coherent and consistent policy that has driven innovation and reduced fossil fuel usage, receiving a ranking of 6/10 on the dashboard. The Government should build on their success in power sector decarbonisation by committing to phase out unabated gas generation by 2035 at the latest and providing a detailed pathway to achieve this goal before COP26.

Neil Grant, COP26 Research Fellow at Policy Connect, on secondment from the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London, developed the dashboard. “The Climate Policy Dashboard is an accessible and transparent tool that tracks Government progress in developing policy to deliver on our climate ambitions. Providing an objective assessment against CCC targets and clear recommendations for improving climate policy, the dashboard will be of use to anyone who is interested in UK climate policy and wants to see policies introduced commensurate with our targets. Ultimately, the only climate ambition that counts is ambition that’s delivered on."

View the Climate Policy Dashboard on our website.