The government’s current plans to achieve net zero by 2050 will cost £4.5 trillion, three times as much was previously thought, according to a report by a think-tank.
The think tank Civitas has claimed that the real cost of net zero “risks the very fabric of the UK economy and genuine societal hardship.”
A government spokesman told the Epoch Times that “we simply do not accept these figures.”
In the report, author and economist Ewen Stewart calculates that estimates set by the Climate Change Committee (CCC) in its 2020 6th carbon budget to achieve net zero by 2050 were too low.
The CCC is an advisory body that provides guidance and recommendations on climate policy and targets to the UK government.
Three Times The Estimate
The report estimated that the probable costs will be at least £4.58 trillion, well over three times the CCC’s estimate of £1.3 trillion. Mr. Stewart described this as a “best-case scenario.”
He added that the UK is a “global outlier in terms of the strength of its net zero commitments.”
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Though despite the fact has already cut emissions harder and faster than almost all other developed nations, its emissions in a global context “are minimal,” and less than 1 percent of the global total.
The UK is also one of the very few countries to tie net zero objectives into law with statutory obligation “regardless of feasibility or cost,” with the Climate Change Act.
Mr. Stewart said that the UK’s approach is “legally enforcing and one-dimensional without due regard to wider economic and societal impacts.”
£6,070 for every household
The £4.58 trillion figure, which the report claims, will cost £6,070 for every household, as opposed to the 6th CCC budget of £1,776 per household per year.
Read More: Cost of Net Zero Could Top £4.5 Trillion
