Emma Pinchbeck’s recent appointment as chief executive of the Climate Change Committee was for some time the energy sector’s worst kept secret. Following Chris Stark’s departure from the role in April, Pinchbeck’s was the name most mentioned as his likely heir. As the chief executive of the industry body, Energy UK, Pinchbeck has proved a prominent expert on the transition to clean power and how to make a renewables-based future a reality.
In her new role, which officially begins on 11 November, she will be in charge of providing the government with a clear, independent critique of progress towards net zero. And now Labour is in charge, Pinchbeck’s new role will include scrutinising the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ)’s work on its mission to achieve clean power by 2030. Essentially, she will be marking the homework of Stark, who is now head of mission control for clean power.
On this ambitious mission, it’s clear that DESNZ, led by Ed Miliband, has hit the ground running. Within 72 hours of Labour’s election win, the department had already lifted the ban on onshore wind, and it launched GB Energy shortly after. But with six years to go until the 2030 deadline, is this impressive goal actually achievable?
“I hate the ‘is it achievable’ question,” Pinchbeck told me at the end of July, still speaking in her capacity as chief executive of Energy UK. “We think it will be very challenging, but 2035 was challenging,” she said, “and there’s not a huge difference between 2030 and 2035. The industry that I look after is committed to decarbonising the power sector in the 2030s.”
DESNZ has already announced a £1.5bn boost for renewable projects as part of the most recent contracts-for-difference auction, and unveiled a new partnership with the Crown Estate in tandem with the launch of GB Energy. Still, its plans for decarbonising home heating and reducing the UK’s reliance on natural gas remain less clear. But Pinchbeck is unfazed. “People regularly remind me of things that I’ve said probably weren’t possible, that turned out to be possible,” she said. “When I was working on the coal phase-out at World Wildlife Fund [WWF], we were worried that the lights wouldn’t be able to stay on.” At the end of September, the UK switched off its final coal power station at Ratcliffe-on-Sea: the lights stayed on. “The system continues to surprise us because of innovation at every stage,” she added.
One thing Pinchbeck is clear the government will need to crack to make clean power 2030 a success, however, is flexible generation. In layman’s terms, this is the method through which the power network remains fully functional during the phase-out of fossil fuels, and in light of the changeability of renewable energy. “Renewables are variable. It’s not a surprise that the wind doesn’t blow all the time, and the sun doesn’t always shine,” Pinchbeck explained. “The technology is becoming more efficient… but if you’re managing the electricity grid you need a predictable output.”
The CCC’s sixth carbon budget – a report by the committee that advises the government on how much carbon can be emitted between 2033-2037 to remain in line with net zero targets – assumes the UK will have gas-fired power stations that switch on once or twice every few years to manage unpredictable weather conditions. Non-emergency power generation could come from batteries, or by encouraging more consumers to use electric vehicles or heat pumps.
Pinchbeck pointed out that there are ways in which the system can counter the emissions from natural gas such as “decarbonised gas” or the deployment of carbon capture and storage. “The technologies are at a very early stage,” Pinchbeck said, “but it’s this little bit that we’d really like to see some thinking on.” The government is clearly on the same wavelength. In October, Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and Miliband travelled to the north-west to announce a £22bn investment over the next 25 years in new carbon capture clusters across Teesside and Merseyside. The trio claimed the investment would “reignite our industrial heartlands” and “kickstart growth”.
Pinchbeck, 37, lives in the Cotswolds with her family. She cut her teeth as head of climate change at WWF UK before serving as deputy chief executive of another trade body, Renewables UK. She joined Energy UK in July 2020. Shortly after her announcement as the new head of the CCC, she received a raft of criticism on the online platform X from anti-pylon campaigners, who criticised her approach to energy infrastructure. Speaking to me in July, Pinchbeck addressed opposition to pylons head on. “I live in an area of outstanding natural beauty. There are wind turbines on the hill that I can see from my house. You can also actually see some transmission pylons,” she said. “I do what I do for a living because I am an environmentalist and I care about climate change. But when I look at that infrastructure, I see protection. Not harm.” This tension is one that the government will likely need to combat. Reeves has often floated the idea of “community benefits” for areas where pylons and other critical infrastructure is built. But detail of these has remained thin.
“There is a blunt conversation which needs to be had with people about the impacts of climate change on the places they love, and the reason we’re building this stuff,” Pinchbeck said. She added: “It can’t be OK for some communities to say they don’t want change at the expense of the national economy, especially when people are struggling with their energy bills.” Pinchbeck caveated that, of course: “Industry should be required to do as little harm as possible.” She explained that a way of bringing communities along in terms of benefits could be to “invest in the local community” or to mirror existing schemes in which communities that host infrastructure are offered reduced energy bills.
Though she is clearly on board with the government’s agenda and intention, Pinchbeck was clear there is room for improvement. “I would like to see a lot more focus on the electrification of heat,” she said. “It reduces our dependence on imported gas, which is important for everyone’s bills.” She also pointed out the government needs to accelerate planning reform in order to speed up the electrification of home heating. “We need to make it easier for people to get a heat pump in their house without having to tick so many boxes,” she said.
With expertise gained from four years at Energy UK and many more working in the renewables sector, Pinchbeck will likely be adept at holding the government to account on reaching clean power 2030. Her expertise and scrutiny could prove essential in ensuring the government actually achieves its goal.
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