THE ENVIRONMENT minister has warned that tougher measures could be on the way over the next five years to make sure Jersey achieves its target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The latest progress report on the Government’s Carbon Neutral Roadmap, which sets out how the Island will decarbonise, shows that a lot more work needs to be done to achieve this key policy, which politicians signed up to in May 2022.
Between 1990 and 2023, which is the latest year of data, emissions in Jersey decreased by 48 per cent.
Jersey is committed to a 68 per cent reduction by 2030, 78 per cent by 2035, and reaching net-zero emissions in 25 years’ time.
Back in June, the Jersey Policy Centre think tank claimed that, based on the latest data trends, the 2030 target “cannot be achieved”.
“This would require an annual 6.8% reduction in emissions whereas the figures for the two most [recent] years for which figures are available are 2.9% in 2022 and 0.2% in 2023,” senior policy advisor Sir Mark Boleat said.
This, the Policy Centre claimed, was because “no measures have been adopted which could significantly reduce emissions”.
In the newly published progress report, this overarching aim of the strategy is given an ‘amber’ status in a traffic light system of progress, meaning that “work has commenced but has missed or is at risk of not meeting the target or timeline”.
Deputy Steve Luce said: “When it comes reducing overall emissions, I’m not as confident as I would like to be that we’re on target and clearly more work needs to be done. We have already taken the low-hanging fruit and the next phase of the roadmap, between 2026 and 2030, will be challenging.”
He added: “We will continue with the carrots but I’m sure we will come to a point where we will have to make decisions that actually stop something happening, rather than simply encouraging change.
“Work on that is currently being looked at but if we are going to have a realistic chance of hitting the first target in 2030, we have to do better than before.
“I hope more and more electric vehicles become available, and there are more options in terms of their size and range. In the next phase of the roadmap, encouraging more people to drive EVs will continue but we will need to look more closely at heating in homes.”
He continued: “I will be making a decision in the next few months on how we replace carbon-burning boilers, so that if someone takes out their oil-fired boiler, they don’t replace it with another one.”
While the first ‘strategic policy’ of the roadmap remains ‘amber’, the annual progress report contains plenty of ‘green’ against other policies.
Work remains on track, for example, to ban the importation and registration of petrol and diesel cars and small vans new to the Island by 2030.
The gradual increase on Vehicle Emissions Duty for each year until 2030 is also on target.
The update also highlights the successful uptake of last year’s Electric Vehicle Purchase Incentive Scheme, which closed early due to high demand, with more than 1,200 applications processed, including 25 commercial vans, and 91 redeemed.
However, a Low Carbon Heating Incentive Scheme proved more of a slow burn, with only 590 applications submitted so far against a target of 1,000 by the end of this year.
The Government has now raised its matched funding for a heat pump system to £9,000 and increased the financial support for low-income families to £15,000.
Some policies are ‘red’ in the progress report so are no longer being taken forward or delayed. These includes subsidising ‘second-generation’ renewable diesel by 32p per litre, introducing legislation to bring in Energy Performance Certificates and developing a ‘Circular Economy Strategy’.
The progress report also includes, for the first time, an update on the Island’s plans to build an offshore wind farm.
It says: “In 2025, the Minister for the Environment has confirmed his intention to return to the Assembly with draft primary legislation and a proposition on offshore wind before the end of the year.
“The proposition will draw extensively on the policy work currently under way looking at the economic case and strategic benefits for Jersey. The outcome of the debate will determine what work should be progressed in 2026 and beyond.”
