Type: Policy

ICE submission to the Environmental Audit Committee inquiry on the Seventh Carbon Budget

Date: 11 March 2026

The ICE responds to an inquiry into the government’s plans to decarbonise the UK economy to reach net zero by 2050.

This Environmental Audit Committee inquiry examines the Climate Change Committee's advice on the Seventh Carbon Budget, which covers the years 2038-2042.

Carbon budgets, established by the Climate Change Act 2008, cap the total greenhouse gases the UK can emit over five-year periods.

The inquiry examines the assumptions and costs underpinning the CCC’s recommendations, the policy choices facing the government, and the potential impacts on households, businesses and the wider economy.

It also looks at how the government should communicate choices and trade-offs, and how Parliament and the public can best scrutinise delivery plans and progress.

The ICE’s submission makes the following key points:

The net zero transition requires significant investment in infrastructure. Distributing the costs of these assets between households, businesses and regions will require significant social licence. The public must be meaningfully engaged about the benefits and costs linked to the transition.
Public behaviour will affect every sector of importance for the net zero transition to some degree. This requires the support of policymakers, businesses and an infrastructure system that will enable people to make the required net zero-aligned choices.