Changes in family spending 'crucial to decarbonisation'

28 Feb 2025

Think tank the Resolution Foundation has suggested that changes in family spending will be the key to the next phase in Britain's decarbonisation drive.

A report entitled the Seventh Carbon Budget by the Climate Change Committee (CCC) stated that households cannot continue spending in the same way, with close to half of emissions reductions needed by 2040 made by changes to spending on surface transport, home upgrades and flying.

According to the CCC, these changes would make net savings for families every year from 2026. The Resolution Foundation believes that by 2050, the poorest fifth of UK households could see the share of their spending that goes on energy bills and driving cut by 6 percentage points.

Zachary Leather, Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: 'While politicians fret and argue about the cost of net-zero, [the] report shows that there are long-term benefits for consumers and the environment.

'But the high upfront costs of net-zero technologies like EVs and heat pumps risk locking lower income households out of the savings that they bring in the long run.'