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Energy and enviro groups lobby government to keep EU targets
Thirty leading environmental and energy groups have written to the new secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy Greg Clark urging the government to maintain its commitment to crucial EU targets on energy post Brexit — including the demand that all new buildings be ‘nearly zero energy’ (NZEB) from 2021.
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The letter, which is signed by groups such as the Association for the Conservation of Energy, the Energy Saving Trust and Friends of the Earth — as well as leading industry groups in the sustainable building and renewable energy sectors — argues that EU laws have helped to give business, investors and consumers the confidence to start moving towards a low carbon future.
It reads: “Following the referendum, it is now critical that Government restores this already-eroded confidence by giving an assurance that, until the terms of leaving the EU are in place, all relevant EU directives and targets are still in place and the UK Government is legally obliged to continue to meet them.”
In particular it also calls on the government to commit to hitting the 2020 targets under the Renewable Energy Directive, which states that 15% of all energy used for electricity, transport and heating should come from renewable sources.
“These targets make a key contribution towards implementing the UK’s worldleading Climate Change Act 2008,” the letter adds.
