05 January 2023 , 00:01
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A national "war effort" mobilisation is needed to speed up the transition from fossil fuels, insulate homes and tackle soaring energy costs, MPs warn today.
In a cross-party report, the Commons Environmental Audit Committee say the UK remains dependent on oil, gas, and coal for 78% of its energy needs.
This dependence, it warns, has left the UK exposed to the biggest global fossil fuel price shock since the 1970s after Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine.
While welcoming the Government's temporary cap on the average household energy bill, the report claims there are "significant gaps" in No10's strategy.
The MPs say: "To deliver genuine energy security, the strategy should have placed far greater emphasis on energy saving measures.
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The Tories "missed a crucial window of opportunity" to accelerate energy efficiency installations in the warmer months of 2022, it adds.
The Tory MP Philip Dunne chairs the Environmental Audit Committee (Richard Townshend Photography)It also highlights that in England alone over 13million homes are below the energy rating C, with only 100,000 upgrades installed in 2021.
The MPs urge the Government to install energy efficiency upgrades to a million homes a year by 2025 and increase to 2.5million properties by 2030.
Committee chairman and ex-Tory minister Philip Dunne MP, said: "To reduce the UK's demand on fossil fuels, we must stop consuming more than we need.
"We must fix our leaky housing stock, which is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and wastes our constituents' hard-earned cash: we must make homes warmer and retain heat for longer."
The report also demands ambitious targets for rolling out onshore wind and tidal energy, as well as recommending ministers set an end date for domestic oil and gas licensing.
Mr Dunne added: “Bold action is needed now. The last year, with Russia ’s aggression in Europe choking energy supplies, has shown us just how vulnerable our over-reliance on imported fossil fuels can make us.
"The committee has today set out a number of clear recommendations to drive real change - I hope the Government will act swiftly to implement them.”
Labour's Shadow Climate Change and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband said: “Britain is facing a national cost of living emergency. 12 years of failure by the Conservatives to insulate our homes is one of the reasons bills are so high.
"Too many working people and pensioners live in draughty, cold homes with high heating costs.
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“If the Conservatives were serious about cutting energy bills, it could start right now, by delivering the Warm Homes Plan that Labour has called for.
"But recent announcements offered no new resources, which is far little too late for the millions of people facing a cost of living emergency this winter."