The provision of analysis on abating direct emissions from 'hard to decarbonise' homes, with a view to informing the UK's long term targets

In 2015, at the 21st yearly session of the Conference of Parties, parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) reached a landmark agreement to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change. Parties committed to keeping global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

In October of this year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels, alongside a series of related global emissions pathways.

This was followed by a formal request from UK and devolved Governments for the CCC to update its advice on UK climate action following the Paris Agreement. The Government has sought advice on the date by which the UK should achieve a net zero greenhouse gas or carbon target, and advice on how reductions in line with recommendations might be delivered in key sectors of the economy and at what cost.

The CCC is now in the process of updating its analysis on how ambitious long-term targets can be met. In the area of buildings decarbonisation, the focus of our update will be on those homes considered 'hard to decarbonise'. We are seeking further analysis on the distribution and characteristics of these homes, on treatment packages and on trajectories for decarbonisation based on the latest available evidence. *** Please see Specification for more detail ***