The head of the Climate Change Committee (CCC) says government policy must focus on efficiency and ensure electricity is cheaper than gas in a bid to โtransform the economics of low-carbon heatโ.
The UK is currently on track to miss its legal climate targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the mid 2030s by a huge margin, Government figures show.
Climate Change Committee chief executive Chris Stark said the industry and regulator the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) could do more, sooner to reduce emissions if North Sea production is to continue.
In its advice to government, the UK's Climate Change Committee (CCC) said it supports โstringentโ tests on North Sea licensing as part of proposed climate compatibility checkpoints, but stopped short of recommending an end to exploration.
The Scottish Government has been told the "delivery of rapid emissions reductions cannot wait" if it is to meet legally-binding climate change targets at the end of this decade.
As many as 10,000 new green industrial jobs could be created by the middle of the decade if carbon capture utilisation and storage is immediately scaled up.