The innovation charity Nesta called on the UK Government on 20 September 2023 to stick to its commitment that no new gas boilers are installed after 2035, and to help more people install heat pumps1. The intervention followed comments from the Prime Minister about meeting the UK's net-zero commitments in a "more proportionate way", and news of a planned watering down of key green policies expected to be announced on Friday1.
Nesta said home heating is responsible for around 15% of the UK's total emissions, and that the UK has one of the slowest rates of heat pump installation in Europe1. It argued that the 2035 commitment supports investor confidence and the growth of green jobs1.
Madeleine Gabriel, director of sustainable future at Nesta, said:
"There is nothing proportionate about running scared from the job of lowering our country's carbon emissions."
Gabriel added that any Government climbdown on replacing gas boilers "just pushes these costs further down the line and may end up costing more by delaying investment and innovation", and that backtracking on the pledges would create more uncertainty in the heat pump market, keeping costs higher for consumers now1.
The charity's statement did not set out which specific policies were expected to be diluted, and no detail of the planned announcement has been reported beyond its expected timing of Friday1. The Government's response to Nesta's call has not been reported1.
Why it matters for households
The 2035 date is the point at which the gas boiler ban would take effect for new installations, so any change to it affects what heating systems can be fitted in a home after that year. Nesta's figures put home heating at around 15% of UK emissions, which is the reason the commitment sits inside the wider heat pump policy and targets framework1.
For a household, the practical question is what remains certain. Nesta's argument is that uncertainty in the heat pump market keeps costs higher for consumers now, and that delaying investment pushes costs further down the line1. Homes off the gas grid already face different choices, covered in heating a home off the gas grid, and the comparison between the two technologies is set out in heat pumps compared with boilers. The wider context of heat pumps and of boilers and heating is where the 2035 commitment sits.
Energy independence for a home turns on how much of its heating runs on fuels it can source domestically and how much it depends on imported gas. Nesta's position is that replacing fossil fuel burning gas boilers is a key part of decarbonising, and that the UK's slow heat pump installation rate is the gap the policy is meant to close1.
What happens next
The planned watering down of green policies was expected to be announced on Friday, according to Nesta's statement1. What that announcement contains, and whether the 2035 gas boiler commitment is altered, has not been reported1.