{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreihclhsdqfhl2hrigzfzud3hqxfpwsugre5zxnipdw57osw2u3m4wq",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:oznbnvgr7dmvddiyvr7dih52/app.bsky.feed.post/3mh7blyhkcek2"
  },
  "coverImage": {
    "$type": "blob",
    "ref": {
      "$link": "bafkreiez57hpvdcefkezofs2pirrs2fbkxy4xlw554w53mwqwneunn5voy"
    },
    "mimeType": "image/jpeg",
    "size": 54497
  },
  "path": "/money/net-zero-fossil-fuel-ed-miliband-climate-change",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-16T18:21:10.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Keir Starmer told to 'stop preaching about net zero' after vowing to help Britons with energy bills",
    "Sir Jim Ratcliffe takes aim at Ed Miliband over Net Zero as he warns Iran war is a 'wake-up call'",
    "Net Zero to cost UK over £125bn by 2030 as Tories rage at 'slap in the face for families'",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nBritain’s transition to net zero by 2050 would cost less than a single fossil fuel price crisis, according to new analysis from the Climate Change Committee.\n\nThe independent statutory body found that every pound invested in reaching the climate target delivers between 2.2 and 4.1 times its value in wider benefits.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe findings were published as part of the committee’s latest economic assessment supporting its advice on the Seventh Carbon Budget.\n\nThe report concluded that reaching net zero represents the most cost-effective long-term path for the UK economy across all scenarios tested.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nAccording to the analysis, the transition would generate a net benefit to society when compared with continued reliance on fossil fuels.\n\nReform UK's deputy leader Richard Tice previously criticised climate targets in a February policy address, instead pledging to abandon emissions goals.\n\nSpeaking at a steel stockholding facility in Dudley last month, Mr Tice outlined Reform UK’s proposal to boost domestic fossil fuel production.\n\nHe said: \"We all know that to be a rich nation, you have to have cheap, plentiful energy.\"\n\nMr Tice also called for expanded oil and gas extraction in the UK, adding: \"Lincolnshire gas for Lincolnshire jobs for Lincolnshire growth.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nHowever, the Climate Change Committee’s analysis suggests the economic costs of delaying the transition could be higher.\n\nThe committee estimates that reaching net zero would require investment of roughly £4billion each year.\n\nThis equates to around £100billion by 2050.\n\nThe report states that this figure is comparable to the energy-related costs caused by the fossil fuel price shock following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.\n\nThe committee also estimated that avoiding climate-related damage could deliver savings of between £40billion and £130billion by 2050.\n\nEnergy efficiency improvements represent another major benefit identified in the analysis.\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\n\n\n  * Keir Starmer told to 'stop preaching about net zero' after vowing to help Britons with energy bills\n  * Sir Jim Ratcliffe takes aim at Ed Miliband over Net Zero as he warns Iran war is a 'wake-up call'\n  * Net Zero to cost UK over £125bn by 2030 as Tories rage at 'slap in the face for families'\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nUnder a net zero system, energy losses could fall significantly, reducing annual waste from around £60billion to approximately £30billion.\n\nThe committee also identified wider health and wellbeing benefits associated with the transition.\n\nCleaner air, better-insulated homes, increased levels of active travel and changes to diets could generate net benefits of between £2billion and £8billion each year by mid-century.\n\nThese benefits include reduced healthcare costs and improved public health outcomes.\n\nNigel Topping, chair of the Climate Change Committee, said: \"In light of current world events, it is more important than ever for the UK to move away from being reliant on volatile foreign fossil fuels, to clean, domestic, less wasteful energy.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nMeanwhile, the UK's Energy Secretary Ed Miliband also welcomed the findings.\n\nHe said: \"It is highly significant that the Climate Change Committee has found that the transition to net zero is cheaper for our national economy than the entire cost of the last gas price crisis, and can protect families from future fossil fuel price shocks.\"\n\nBob Ward, policy director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, said accelerating electrification using domestic clean energy could deliver \"substantial and long-lasting savings\" for the UK economy.\n\nDespite rising gas prices, Reform UK has also indicated it would remove incentives designed to encourage households to install heat pumps.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nPaul Morozzo, climate campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said removing such incentives would leave households \"even more exposed to the gas markets that are clobbering businesses and households with higher bills\".\n\nMike Childs, head of science at Friends of the Earth, said investment in domestic renewable power and home insulation would help reduce bills as well as emissions.\n\nHe added: \"Solar and onshore wind are now far cheaper than new gas or nuclear, cutting bills as well as emissions.\"\n\nJohn Flesher of the Conservative Environment Network criticised proposals to expand fracking.\n\nHe said: \"Fracking is a distraction from the real problems our country faces.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards:The GB News Editorial Charter **",
  "title": "Net Zero 'cheaper than fossil fuel volatility' as Ed Miliband lauds 'highly significant' report claim"
}