Parliamentary watchdog warns public support for UK’s net zero plan depends on visible benefits and fair costs

A parliamentary watchdog has cautioned that public support for the UK’s net zero transition cannot be assumed and will hinge on visible, fairly distributed benefits as harder policy choices arrive.

The Environmental Audit Committee, which examines government performance against carbon budgets, concluded that the “low hanging fruit” of decarbonisation has largely gone and that forthcoming measures will hit everyday routines more directly. “The measures still to come will impact our daily lives more than ever,” Toby Perkins MP, the committee’s chair, said. “Public backing for net zero cannot be taken for granted.”

The committee’s assessment of the Climate Change Committee’s advice for the Seventh Carbon Budget , which covers 2038–2042 and must be set in law by June , highlights three interlocking risks to consent: rising electricity costs concentrated on household energy bills; perceptions that benefits are delayed or diffuse; and mixed policy signals from government. The EAC argues that where costs are front-loaded and uneven while benefits are later or less visible, public consent could erode, slowing uptake of low-carbon technologies and undermining confidence in decarbonisation.

Among its central recommendations, the EAC urges shifting a greater share of transition costs from energy bills to general taxation to prevent electricity price rises from deterring electrification of heat and transport. It also calls for a transparent assessment of groups likely to face disproportionately high costs and of workers at risk of job displacement, with clear mitigation and retraining plans. The committee presses the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to secure cross‑government backing for CB7 and to secure explicit endorsement from the Prime Minister and Chancellor.

DESNZ polling published in its Public Attitudes Tracker supports the committee’s warning that public consent is not unconditional. According to the Spring 2025 tracker, 77% of the public express concern about climate change and 89% are aware of the 2050 net zero target, with around half saying they know a fair amount or a lot about it. The department’s repeated trackers since 2024 show persistent broad support for renewable sources , roughly 80% backing for technologies such as wind and solar , but the data also underline that public acceptance will depend on perceived fairness and tangible local benefits. According to the Spring 2025 report, without delivering concrete gains to all groups, support could weaken.

The EAC warns that policy incoherence can send damaging signals. It singled out proposals to charge electric vehicles by mileage while concurrently approving airport expansion as an example that risks portraying net zero as optional rather than obligatory, a dynamic that could slow low-emission vehicle adoption.

Industry and energy-intensive sectors feature in the committee’s brief. The MPs caution against confusing decarbonisation with de‑industrialisation, arguing that permitting production to relocate overseas would erode the UK’s industrial base while doing little to cut global emissions. Ministers should set out how CB7 will prevent carbon leakage and back domestic decarbonisation in trade‑exposed, energy‑intensive industries.

The committee accepts that the CB7 target is stretching but achievable, provided it is backed by long-term certainty, coordinated delivery across departments and policies that make low‑carbon choices affordable, convenient and attractive. “To sustain confidence, the Government must renew its own commitment to affordability by addressing the structural imbalances that currently push up the cost of electricity,” Perkins added.

The government has previously signalled an interest in balancing ambition with affordability. In September 2023 the Prime Minister reaffirmed the UK’s 2050 net zero commitment while announcing a more measured timetable for some measures, including moving the ban on new petrol and diesel cars to 2035 and delaying elements of boiler phase‑outs, framing the adjustments as steps to ease costs on households.

For business leaders and policymakers focused on industrial decarbonisation, the EAC’s message is pragmatic: securing the political licence to accelerate emissions cuts will depend on demonstrable improvements in people’s daily lives , warmer, cheaper‑to‑run homes, cleaner air and local economic opportunities , and on a fiscal and regulatory framework that spreads costs fairly and shields vulnerable households and regional workforces. Getting CB7 right, the committee says, offers significant rewards; getting it wrong risks political resistance that would complicate delivery across supply chains and investment cycles.