Government must implement faster transition to electrification: CCC
On 24 June the Climate Change Committee (CCC) published its annual Progress in reduction emission 2026 report to Parliament, providing its assessment on the UK's progress towards meeting its carbon budgets and setting out its key policy recommendations. While emissions in the UK fell nearly 2% year-on-year, the report found that the UK Government is not moving fast enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).
It finds that there’s now a significant gap between projected emissions reductions and the UK’s 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement. This is a commitment to reduce emissions by at least 68% compared to 1990 levels.
The CCC notes that, following the recent increase in fossil fuel prices, bills have increased for energy consumers. They’ve climbed almost four times more for a typical household with a gas boiler and a petrol car, compared to a household with a heat pump and an EV. For a rural household with an oil boiler and a diesel car, the increase is more than double at 10 times more.
UK greenhouse gas emissions and the UK Government’s targets and pathway
Source: CCC
The 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC)
The CCC said rapid progress over the next year is essential to keep the 2030 NDC in reach, with the pace of emissions reduction needing to almost double. To achieve this, the Government needs a more ambitious plan for electrification.
To do so, it recommends Government:
- Make electricity cheaper by moving policy cost recovery out of electricity bills for non-residential and household users.
- Create the conditions for a more rapid transition to EVs. The CCC encourages the government to stand firm behind the zero-emission vehicle mandate and remove barriers to EV adoption.
- Accelerate the installation of heat pumps in buildings by removing barriers and supporting installations by, for example, addressing the gap left by the closure of the Energy Company Obligation.
- Deliver on industrial electrification through addressing both capital and operating cost barriers.
The CCC says that by 2050, the efficiency of a more electrified energy system would reduce wasted energy by around half compared to today.
GHG emissions in the UK in 2025
Overall, GHG emissions in the UK fell by 1.8% in 2025 compared to the year before, reaching 407 million metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent (MtCO2e), according to provisional estimates. GHG levels in the UK are now 50% lower than those of 1990.
Changes in emissions across key sectors 2024 to 2025
Source: CCC
GHGs from electricity supply
Electricity supply has shifted from the single largest emitting sector to the sixth largest in just over a decade. Emissions from the sector are 82% lower than 2008 level. However, emissions in 2025 remained broadly static compared to 2024. The CCC attributes this to a:
5% (4.1TWh) increase in gas generation year-on-year
5TWh fall in nuclear generation
3TWh reduction in net imports (exports to Ireland increased)
4.1TWh increase in wind curtailment and a 0.9GW reduction in wind capacity deployment
GHGs from surface transport
Despite the rapid growth in sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs), surface transport emissions are increasing. They rose 2.8MTCO2e (2.7%) in 2025 compared to 2024.
Car and van distances driven have reached pre-Covid pandemic levels for the first time since the pandemic, boosting petrol and diesel demand. When compared to the year prior to the pandemic (2019) provisional emissions for 2025 were 7.3% lower.
The CCC expects the additional sales of EV cars and vans each year to be reducing emissions by about 0.9 MtCO2e year-on-year currently.
GHGs from industry
Emissions from industry fell by 5.4MtCO2e in 2025 compared to the previous year. A whopping two thirds of this (3.2MtCO2e) is due to the closure of the blast furnaces at Port Talbot. The site is electrifying, with an electric arc furnace expected to be operational by late 2027.
Much of the rest of the reduction is due to:
falling output from energy intensive industry,
the closure of a number of sites, and
the sectoral shift to less-carbon intensive but higher value industrial products in the UK.
Personally I wonder if this will shift as we see growing consumption of electricity by energy intensive industries (EII). This follows the introduction of substantial cost exemptions and rebates for these users in the last two years.
GHGs from buildings
Emissions from buildings fell 1.2MtCO2e in 2025, falling around 1.5%. Around 50,000 heat pump retrofits were installed per year in 2024 and 2025. However, these would only deliver around an additional 0.1 MtCO2e of emissions savings in 2025. Therefore, the CCC attributes the shift to other factors such as behavioural factors.
Overall the CCC says the heat pump penetration in UK homes is less than 2%, amongst the lowest in Europe, and 2025 saw a significant slowdown in annual installation growth.
You can read the full report via the link below.
Read the reportDisclaimer
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