The UK's energy security has been said to be at risk because of short-termism.
Our energy security is being put at risk by short-term thinking, a leading organisation has said.
The Deputy Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Katja Hall told the CBI Energy Conference on July 17th that "populist" proposals and "careless" comments can make businesses feel like they are "back to square one" when it comes to energy security, highlighting reduced support for onshore windfarms and proposed energy price freezes as examples of these issues.
When policies begin to "click into place", the political climate changes, she said, arguing that instead of long-term certainty, energy policies feel like "snakes and ladders".
Investors, politicians, consumers and politicians need to find "common ground" and work together to achieve climate change and energy objectives, Ms Hall said.
She claimed energy efficiency has been a "poor relation" in discussions about the country's security of supply, asserting that investment in supply should be combined with a renewed push for energy-saving measures. Accordingly, energy efficiency ought to "move up the rankings" and be considered "critical", she declared.
CBI Energy Security Poll
Ms Halls comments are bolstered by the results of a new CBI poll of over 2,300 households and 550 company leaders, which found that 73% of business think energy security is a very important objective for the UK, but that 57% think the nation's energy security is worse than it was five years ago. This pessimism could heighten over winter, when capacity margins are set to shrink.
Furthermore, the poll found that 94% of households and 96% of businesses think the affordability of gas and electricity bills is important or very important, while 76% of households and 70% of business said the country's attempts to combat climate change are either important or very important.
However, although 56% of households and 60% of company leaders think that if the UK takes steps to curtail carbon emissions now it will realise long-term economic opportunities, 32% of business leaders said they disagree with this preposition, while 23% of consumers are unsure. The CBI said this indicates that more should be done to communicate the opportunities the low-carbon transition will create and the importance of this transition.
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Kevin Burke has written about energy efficiency and sustainability for one of the UK's biggest energy companies and a leading thermal insulation supplier. He now writes for a boiler breakdown cover provider.
