CURRENT budgets fall far short of required levels to meet the Island’s current carbon neutral strategy and delays risk increasing costs and deepening risks, an independent review has found.
A £33,000 progress report by the Climate Council – a five-member body set up by the States to mark how the government is implementing its ‘Carbon Neutral Roadmap’ – has concluded that interim goals to be achieved by 2030, which includes achieving a 68% reduction in emissions from 1990 levels, will not be met, but the longer-term target of net-zero is still possible – if the government moves faster.
However, the council for that the while the government estimates suggest implementing the roadmap will cost around £300 million – the equivalent to about £10 million per year over 30 years, current financing falls well short of this level.
This is because the Climate Emergency Fund, originally intended to be supported by above-RPI fuel-duty increases, has been “weakened by a three-year fuel duty freeze, reducing the real cost of fossil fuel use and lowering revenues by an estimated £5 million per year relative to inflation indexed duty”.
The balance of the fund has declined, according to the review, and projected spending from 2026 onwards is around £4 million per year across all sectors, creating a “structural gap between required investment and available resources”.
The council has several concerns about the delivery of the roadmap so far, which has included providing subsidies for people to buy an electric car and / or install electric heating.
Central to the roadmap’s ambitions is that to move to net-zero is “just” – meaning that those on lower incomes can afford to decarbonise their lives.
However, the council identifies some “just transition failures”, concluding that subsidies have been skewed towards the wealthy, polluter-pays principles have been “weakened or abandoned” and some high-emission activities, such as aviation, remain untaxed.
It has also found that the electrification has been prioritised over demand reduction, behavioural change, and transitional solutions, and Jersey is lagging behind international best practice in certain areas, including waste, transport and finance policy.
The council makes several recommendations, including that the government should apply the “polluter pays” principle and make “clear and firm commitments to the phase-out of internal combustion engine vehicles and boilers, prioritise a waste strategy to replace the Energy Recovery Facility dependence and develop robust strategies for managed transition or exit of some fossil fuel systems.”
It adds: “The council is clear that Jersey has the potential to be both a leader and a beneficiary of the global emissions transition. We urge Jersey to stay the course and hope that our report is of use and supports the further delivery of a transition that is fair, effective and positive.”
In a statement, the Climate Council said: “As a council, we are clear – although Jersey has real strengths, strong foundations, proven capability and a community already showing willingness to change, the Island is not currently on track to meet its 2030 climate targets, and the window for effective corrective action is narrowing.
“Every year of delay increases costs, deepens risks and limits the choices available to future governments. With consistent leadership and a fair, coordinated approach, the Island can unlock cleaner energy, lower long-term costs and new economic opportunities that many larger jurisdictions still struggle to access.
“The transition is not a burden; it is one of Jersey’s greatest opportunities to build a more resilient, competitive and confident future. Success is still firmly within reach, but only if action continues, and accelerates, now”.
