By Muvija M
Oct 20 (Reuters) - Britain's plans to hit net-zero emissions
risk being derailed by income inequality, with only higher
income households able to afford new green technologies unless
costs are shared, financial services provider Legal & General
said on Wednesday.
Its research, published less than two weeks before the COP26
U.N. climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, said the average UK
household has a funding gap of over 4,000 pounds ($5,500) on the
installation of solar panels. The funding gap on installing a
ground source heat was nearly 15,000.
Households making less than 20,000 pounds a year were
particularly slow to adopt green tech, the report found.
"Currently, the UK runs the risk of creating two visions of
Britain: one where more affluent communities benefit from the
green and clean technologies of the 21st century, and another
where less affluent communities do not. Climate transition
cannot be restricted to the better off," Legal & General CEO
Nigel Wilson said.
"If the UK is to successfully hit its carbon neutral target
by 2050, this transition needs to take place in a socially
inclusive manner."
The research showed consumers were open to making green
modifications to their homes, with 52% very or fairly willing to
install solar panels and 54% happy to install a ground source
heat pump.
But households were willing or able to contribute just 13%
of the costs associated with installing solar panels and 10% of
the costs of installing a ground source heat pump, it found.
To fill that funding gap, costs needed to be shared between
households, local authorities and central government, Wilson
said.
"We cannot build healthy and prosperous communities without
building and retrofitting infrastructure which reduces
emissions, improves air quality and access to green jobs," he
added.
($1 = 0.7271 pounds)
(Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru, editing by Sujata Rao in
London and Philippa Fletcher)