Net Zero Carbon
Global Warming
The average temperature at the Earth’s surface has risen about 1.1C since 1850.
Greenhouse gases – which trap the Sun’s heat – are the crucial link between temperature rise and human activities. The most important is carbon dioxide (CO2), because of its abundance in the atmosphere
The impacts that we are experiencing now at around a 1.2°C rise in average temperature are forerunners of rapidly escalating risks as global temperatures rise towards 2°C and beyond. Time is rapidly running out for humanity to avoid the extremely serious risks of a 2°C or warmer world
Every fraction of a degree of avoided warming matters, and will be measured in lives, species and ecosystems lost or saved. We must do everything possible to deeply and rapidly cut our emissions, while also preparing for climate impacts that can no longer be avoided.
Around 14% of the UK’s carbon emissions comes from heating our homes
The UK government has set several targets to improve energy efficiency in homes1:
- Upgrade all fuel poor homes to Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) band C by 2030.
- Upgrade as many homes as possible to EPC band C by 2035 (where practical, cost effective, and affordable).
- Improve business energy efficiency by 20% by 2030.
- It is estimated that the majority of existing UK homes will require some form of retrofitting in order to achieve net zero by 2050. In order to meet the 2050 NZC target, the UK government has implemented a number of initiatives to promote heat pumps and make them more accessible to householders. Grants of up to £7,500 are now available for installing heat pumps, making them more affordable than gas boilers.
