Britain will miss its renewable energy targets without 'urgent' action, say MPs

They warn that it could undermine the UK's reputation for climate change leadership

The UK is set to miss its renewable energy targets, say MPs (GETTY)

On its current course Britain is set to miss its 2020 renewable energy targets, an influential committee of MPs has warned.

A report from the group said that without major policy improvements, missing the target to provide 15 per cent of its energy needs from renewable sources was certain.

It went on to call for “urgent” action to renew a push towards decarbonisation, as one expert who gave evidence to the inquiry said it should “ring alarm bells for the Government”.

The report comes amid pressure on the UK to ratify the Paris climate change deal, following the example of the US and China.

Chair of the Energy and Climate Change Committee Angus MacNeil MP said: “The experts we spoke to were clear – the UK will miss its 2020 renewable energy targets without major policy improvements.

“Failing to meet these would damage the UK’s reputation for climate change leadership.

“The Government must take urgent action on heat and transport to renew its efforts on decarbonisation.”

The EU's 2009 Renewable Energy Directive, transposed into UK law, requires the Britain to source 15 per cent of all energy from renewables by 2020.

Within that the directive states that 30 per cent of its electricity must come from renewables, 12 per cent of its heat and 10 per cent of transport fuels.

The UK is three-quarters of the way towards its electricity sub-target and is expected to exceed it by 2020.

But it is not yet halfway towards achieving the 12 per cent in heat and the proportion of renewable energy used in transport actually fell last year.

While leaving the EU renders the status of the UK’s 2020 renewable energy targets uncertain, the MPs warned that if they are missed it will undermine confidence in the country’s commitment to its legally binding 2050 carbon targets.

Chief Executive of renewable energy company Good Energy Juliet Davenport, who gave evidence to the committee, said: “This should ring alarm bells for the government – we’re teetering on a cliff edge of losing our global reputation for leadership on climate change.

“These are EU targets that will be missed, so now the Government needs to show the world that Brexit doesn’t mean they’re throwing the towel in on tackling climate change.”

Among issues highlighted in the report are the government shift on car tax that means some of the most fuel-efficient cars pay as much as the dirtiest gas guzzlers.

Scrapping of the Zero Carbon homes policy for new build properties may also exacerbate the problem with the UK having some of the worst insulated homes in Europe.

A Downing Street source said the UK would ratify the Paris climate change agreement "as soon as possible" but suggested no date.

At the recent G20 meeting in Hangzhou, the US and China, together responsible for 40 per cent of the world's carbon emissions, both formally joined the Paris global climate agreement.

The deal last December saw countries agree to cut emissions in a bid to keep the global average rise in temperatures below two degrees celcius.