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Energy White Paper 2003: Our Energy Future - Creating a Low Carbon Economy

From heating and lighting to transport, industry and communications, energy is fundamental to almost everything we do. We expect it to be available whenever we want it, to be affordable, safe and environmentally sustainable.

'Our Energy Future – Creating a Low Carbon Economy' defined a long-term strategic vision for energy policy combining our environmental, security of supply, competitiveness and social goals. It built on the Performance and Innovation Unit's Energy Review, published in February 2002, and on other reports which have looked at major areas of energy policy.

The implementation of the White Paper was taken forward via the Sustainable Energy Policy Network (SEPN).     

Because energy requires very long-term investment we looked ahead to 2050 to set the overall context. We set out the challenges we face on the environment, the decline of our indigenous energy supplies and the need to update our energy infrastructure and the policies we need to pursue over the next twenty years and beyond to meet these challenges.

As we address these three challenges, we will have four goals for our energy policy:

• to put ourselves on a path to cut the UK’s carbon dioxide emissions - the main contributor to global warming - by some 60% by about 2050 with real progress by 2020
• to maintain the reliability of energy supplies
• to promote competitive markets in the UK and beyond, helping to raise the rate of sustainable economic growth and to improve our productivity
• to ensure that every home is adequately and affordably heated

The white paper was formulated through wide consultation and analysis.

See 'Contents of Energy White Paper' and 'Supporting Analysis of White Paper' for more details.

The Sustainable Energy Act 2003 (see 'External Links') received Royal Assent on 30 October 2003.

The Energy Act 2004 (see 'External Links'), which implemented a range of commitments made in the 2003 Energy White Paper, and demonstrates that Government is serious about meeting the challenging targets of that White Paper, received Royal Assent on 22 July 2004.