The UK Is Not “Ahead Of The EU Pack” On Climate Or Clean Energy
Despite repeated claims by the government to the contrary, the UK is not “ahead of the EU pack” on either climate or clean energy.
A new report published by the non-profit Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), contrary to repeated claims made by UK government officials, the UK is not leading the way for the European Union when it comes to tackling climate change and building a clean energy economy. Rather, the report places the UK sixth out of the 28 European member countries, ranked across a basket of seven metrics.
The authors of the report ranked the 28 EU member nations according to seven separate metrics:
- Per capita carbon emissions
- The annual rate at which per capita emissions have fallen in recent years (2009-14)
- The annual rate at which per capita emissions have fallen since 1990
- Carbon intensity (carbon emissions per unit of economic output)
- Per capita renewable energy capacity (power sector)
- Recent rate of increase in per capita renewable capacity
- The percentage of energy coming from low-carbon sources
The UK scores well on two of these measures — the rate of per capita emissions reduction since 1990, and recent increases in renewable energy capacity — but falls short, to the point of being fifth out of the “Big Five” European economies (France, Spain, Italy, Germany, and the UK), on the amount of renewable energy installed per capita.
“This report reveals that the UK’s record is about average compared with other EU member states – we’re ahead of the pack on some measures, and behind in others,” said Richard Black, director of ECIU. “For example, we’re the fourth most advanced country in Europe in terms of how much renewable energy capacity we’ve installed per person in recent years, but only 21st of 28 countries if you look at the total amount we have on a per capita basis.”
“The meme of UK exceptionalism is raising its head in the context of the Fifth Carbon Budget, with suggestions that we should reduce the pace of decarbonisation as we’re somehow ahead of our neighbours; but when you look across the piece, we’re not ahead, so the argument should logically go away.”
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