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Insight paper

Tackling the UK’s energy efficiency problem: What the Truss government should learn from other countries

Liz Truss should overhaul the government’s energy efficiency policies.

Housing energy efficiency symbol
The UK’s homes and buildings are among the least efficient in Europe.

The government should do more to address the UK’s energy efficiency problems - or risk finding itself in an even more difficult position next year over rising energy bills.

The report finds that the UK’s homes and buildings are among the least efficient in Europe, which is making the energy crisis especially painful for UK households and businesses

The Johnson government and now seemingly the Truss government have so far ignored energy efficiency in their responses, but the new IfG paper says the case for action is even stronger now that the government will be taking such large energy costs directly on to its balance sheet.

But with the UK paying the price for a decade of policy failure on energy policy, with ministers giving the issue insufficient attention, the report sets out how the government can learn from successes abroad and failures at home, and develop a stable, long-term approach that builds confidence among consumers. 

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