The government has been urged to significantly increase investment and address opposition to renewable energy projects to meet its net zero targets.
The new Resolution Foundation research, funded by the European Climate Foundation, emphasises the need for rapid decarbonisation across electricity, buildings and transport sectors to achieve the 2030 net zero goal.
The report highlights that while the UK has made progress in reducing emissions since 1990, faster progress is needed.
Achieving this will require increased investment from the public sector, private sector and households.
The report stresses the importance of supporting households that cannot afford the upfront costs of clean technologies.
Past schemes have had mixed success in targeting support, with poorer households benefiting more from pre-2013 schemes like Warm Homes Front and CERT, while wealthier households were more likely to benefit from later schemes, according to the report.
In addition to accelerating the adoption of clean technologies, the report calls for increased production and distribution of clean energy.
This requires addressing planning system issues that delay renewable energy projects.
The government aims to address these issues through a new National Planning Policy Framework.
However, renewable projects such as solar farms, battery storage and onshore wind turbines often face local opposition.
The report suggests three options to address this: removing local control to unblock development, allowing local opposition which would hinder decarbonisation, or providing financial incentives to mitigate opposition.
The report also notes that many renewable projects are proposed in wealthier areas, with almost two-thirds of solar projects in the richest 40% of neighbourhoods.
The Resolution Foundation notes that the government must carefully design financial transfers to avoid poorer households compensating wealthier ones for the decarbonisation of the energy sector.
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