Boris Johnson's £1trillion Green Britain plan to fight climate change may not go far enough according to the Government's own assessment which demands 'STRONGER' action within five years

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Boris Johnson's plans to turn Britain Green by 2050 at a cost of £1trillion may not go far enough to help counter climate change, a Government report suggested today. 

The PM published the most detailed proposals yet for how the country will become Net Zero within 30 years, rejecting alarm at the potential costs to families and businesses hit hard by the Covid pandemic.

It came weeks before he hosted the Cop26 UN climate change conference in Scotland. 

As well as clean flights, a shift to electric cars by 2035, and gas boilers out by 2030, there will be a focus on encouraging homeowners to be more environmentally-conscious. That could include incentivising mortgage lenders to prioritise properties with better energy ratings. 

But the UK's Third Climate Change Risk Assessment, released by the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs, identified 61 'climate risks cutting across multiple sectors of our society'.

And it noted: 'The risk assessment concludes that 34 of 61 risks are ranked as ''more action needed'', meaning that new stronger or different government action is required in the next five years over and above those already planned.'

It added: 'The evidence indicates that the costs of climate change to the UK are high and  Increasing. 

'For eight of the sixty-one climate risks, UK-wide economic damages by 2050 under 2C (of average temperature) rises are estimated to exceed £1billion per annum.' 

The PM published the most detailed proposals yet for how the country will become Net Zero within 30 years, rejecting alarm at the potential costs to families and businesses hit hard by the Covid pandemic.

In a foreword to the government document last October - titled Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener - Boris Johnson said the UK would 'lead the charge'

'The number of risks that fall into this ''very high'' damage category has risen since a similar assessment in CCRA1 a decade ago, which found only three risks this large. 

'For thirty-six of the risks, UK-wide damages will be at least £10 million per annum. The 'very high' damage risk areas include risks to natural carbon stores and carbon sequestration due to the high costs of climate change; risks to infrastructure networks (water, energy, transport, ICT) from climate hazards which cause cascading failures across sectors, risks to health and wellbeing from high temperatures particularly amongst the vulnerable; risks to productivity due to overheating in places of work; risks from flooding; risks to financial markets, and risks associated with climate change overseas.'

In a statement accompanying today's report, Climate Adaptation Minister Jo Churchill said: 'The scale and severity of the challenge posed by climate change means we cannot tackle it overnight, and although we’ve made good progress in recent years there is clearly much more that we need to do. 

'By recognising the further progress that needs to be made, we’re committing to significantly increasing our efforts and setting a path towards the third National Adaptation Programme which will set ambitious and robust policies to make sure we are resilient to climate change into the future.'

In typically bullish style last October, Mr Johnson insisted that he is not afraid to 'lead the charge' - saying 'history has never been made by those who sit at the back of the class'.

He claimed that Russia and China are 'following our lead' - even though both Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin are expected to snub the COP26 summit in a fortnight, where the premier wants world leaders to commit to slashing carbon emissions.

China has also announced plans to build more coal-fired power plants and increase oil and gas exploration in recent weeks, raising questions about how serious it is about green issues.

The government says that switching from fossil fuels to clean energy, including wind, new nuclear and emerging hydrogen technology, can ease the reliance on imports and protect families from price spikes. It says 440,000 'well-paid' jobs can be created over the next decade.

However, there are growing concerns from the Tory backbenches at the consequences of the push - which economists say is likely to cost £1trillion over 30 years, although the bill for dealing with climate change would almost certainly be higher.