Chris Stark

Others have done the detailed commentary (thank you @DrSimEvans). Main thing to say is that this is a vision with some *breadth*. We’ve become used to piecemeal announcements – this is more like it.

We have meaningful new commitments on transport, power, industry, hydrogen, heat, CCS and woodland creation. It's a statement that a more fully-fledged UK strategy is now emerging.

Notable that the framing is 'jobs and industry'. This is the Prime Minister telling us that the economic recovery from Covid and the UK’s continued prosperity can rest on green jobs and green investment. Hard to argue with that. It’s not framed as an environmental mission.

Absent on jobs is how the transition overall can be well-managed. Employment will grow in many areas, but it will shrink in others, so skills support and retraining very important. Employment impacts – particularly in manufacturing industries – can be regionally concentrated.

The 2030 commitment to phase-out sales of petrol and diesel cars and vans is *massive*. It’s a transport commitment, a consumer commitment, and an industry commitment. Crucially, it will drive fundamental change in the whole energy system. So its impact can’t be overstated.

We haven't modelled a separate target for plug-in hybrids, but it really needs to be a niche thing after 2030. By 2030, 40% of cars on the road will need to be zero carbon, to be on track for Net Zero. A big challenge to get infrastructure ready and consumer incentives right.

We’ll see 600,000 heat pumps a year deployed by 2028. That’s significant – may not be the deployment rate we need to get to, but it’s a good start. I understand the Future Homes Standard will come in from 2023, which is great. Good that the Green Homes Grant has been extended

The hydrogen and CCS commitments are decent too – very much in line with the idea that solutions must be piloted at scale. We lack the info on the market mechanisms that will deliver commercial investment though. I'm hoping the fabled Energy White Paper will fill the gaps here.