| Government to significantly expand its public reporting on net zero - potentially either through the ONS's climate portal or developed in partnership with the CCC. This will act as a tool both for public communication and greater scrutiny of government's progress towards net zero. It should set out regular and publicly accessible data on key progress indicators. |
118. The public needs more information about net zero - including authoritative official data that is trustworthy and engaging. As Pillar 5 describes, net zero will have a major impact on many parts of our lives - from how we travel to how we heat our homes. Evidence suggests that there is significant public support for net zero action, with 95% of voters of the 2019 General Election supporting parties that committed to net zero by 2050. Polling suggests that 45% of the population has already taken action to reduce their carbon emissions, with 22% more planning to so in the future.121 Evidence suggests barriers preventing people from engaging with net zero include cost, difficulty accessing low-carbon alternatives, and a lack of information about what action to take.
119. Evidence suggests that the public do not have all the information they need to assess how net zero impacts them. In 2021, while finding general support for net zero policies, research found that public support for them dropped significantly when people were presented with potential implications for them personally.122 Given the importance of the transition and the scale of potential change, there is a clear and democratic argument for ensuring the implications of net zero are made more transparent. There are practical arguments too. Almost half of the actions in the Government's Net Zero Strategy require public action.123
120. There are also strong external calls for the Government to provide more information about its plans for net zero and open itself up to greater scrutiny. The Public Accounts Committee has on several recent occasions highlighted the need for greater transparency about the Government's progress towards net zero, including on reducing the Government's own emissions:
"The Department and HM Treasury should also set out how it will ensure Parliament can scrutinise the implementation of its net zero policies. We expect this to take the form of annual reports that include the updated costs to 2050 and the amount spent in that year in the public sector to achieve net zero as well as the impact on consumers, households, businesses and local and central government across all sectors and departments and what the expected CO2 reductions will be". - Public Accounts Committee, 2nd March 2022124
121. The CCC has similarly identified the need for a stronger public monitoring framework of the journey to net zero. In their 2022 progress report, they set out detailed new progress indicators to assess the risks of net zero delivery in greater detail than that published so far by the Government.125
122. The Government has recognised the need for greater clarity, but it can go further. The Net Zero Strategy committed to an annual overview of progress towards net zero alongside an update on progress against 24 indicators. However, this does not match the ambition set by the CCC, who have identified 369 indicators that can and should be publicly monitored. Nor does this annual update provide the required level of granularity or public engagement that stakeholders are clearly calling for, or that the evidence suggests is needed.
123. We recommend a major expansion of the Government's public reporting on net zero - potentially through the Office for National Statistics (ONS)'s climate change statistics portal or developed in partnership with the CCC. This would act as a tool both for public communication and for greater scrutiny of government's progress towards net zero. It should set out regular and publicly accessible data on key indicators of progress, including:
• Changes to the economy linked to net zero - e.g. the number of new green jobs
• Information on co-benefits associated with net zero - e.g. air quality
• Information on public attitudes towards net zero - as described in Pillar 5
• Data on progress against key net zero targets and outcomes- e.g. a 30,000 hectare tree-planting target
• Data on key signals and enablers that affect this delivery - e.g. planning application timelines, waiting times for heat pump quotes