Climate advisors say cheaper electricity key to driving green transition

25 June 2025

Making electricity cheaper will help households and businesses benefit more directly from the UK’s shift to a low-carbon economy and speed up the adoption of clean technologies like electric vehicles and heat pumps, according to the Climate Change Committee (CCC).

In its latest Progress Report to Parliament, the CCC – the UK’s independent statutory climate advisory body – assessed how the government is performing against its legally binding emissions targets. It found that while policies have improved over the past year, further action is needed to ensure the benefits of cleaner energy are widely felt and to keep the UK on track to meet its climate commitments.

The report, published on Wednesday, showed that UK greenhouse gas emissions fell by 2.5% in 2024, continuing a steady decline. Since 1990, emissions have dropped by just over 50%, placing the UK among the global leaders in cutting carbon.

Professor Piers Forster, interim Chair of the CCC, says: “The fossil fuel era is over – cheap, clean electricity is our future.” He added that lower electricity prices would help people switch from fossil fuels to electric alternatives, while also improving the UK’s energy security amid global uncertainty.

The Committee welcomed signs of progress across several areas. Heat pump installations rose by 56% in 2024, electric vehicles made up nearly 20% of new car sales, and woodland creation increased by 59%. While much of this reflects policies introduced under the previous government, the report also credited recent decisions, including lifting planning barriers on renewable energy and reinstating the 2030 deadline for ending sales of new petrol and diesel cars.

Despite these gains, the CCC warned that momentum must accelerate. The report warns that the adoption of EVs and heat pumps remains slightly below the levels needed, and the recent gains in tree planting could falter without additional support.

The report’s top recommendation is to make electricity cheaper, to ensure people benefit from the shift to cleaner energy. Other priority recommendations in the report are:

• Provide confidence and certainty to scale heat pump deployment in existing buildings.
• Implement regulations to ensure that new homes are not connected to the gas grid.
• Introduce a comprehensive programme to decarbonise public sector buildings.
• Accelerate the electrification of industrial heat.
• Effectively deliver rapid expansion of the low-carbon electricity system.
• Put policies and incentives in place to ramp up tree planting and peatland restoration.
• Develop policy to ensure that the aviation industry takes responsibility for its emissions reaching Net Zero by 2050.
• Finalise business models for engineered removals.
• Publish a strategy to support skills.

The CCC’s report is available at: https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/progress-in-reducing-emissions-2025-report-to-parliament/