Greener Living
UK Undershoots Budget for Making Homes Greener by £478 Million
- Program to insulate homes and install heat pumps falls short
- Poor leadership and communication explains setback: think tank
Employees assemble an air-to-water heat pump.
Photographer: Ina Fassbender/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
The UK failed to spend £478 million ($608 million) of last year’s budget for making homes and buildings greener, in the latest setback to government initiatives to decarbonize the economy.
The spending shortfall was largely down to the poor take-up of programs to insulate homes and upgrade gas boilers to heat pumps. Those measures are viewed as critical to the nation hitting its net zero target by 2050, as progress has faltered in greening Britain’s old housing and office stock. Buildings account for a quarter of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.