Last week, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak created four new government departments, splitting up the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and creating a dedicated energy security and net-zero function. 

Last week, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak created four new government departments, splitting up the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) up and creating a dedicated energy security and net-zero function.  Grant Shapps was appointed Secretary of State for the Department.

The new Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) is focused on the energy portfolio from BEIS and sets out its 2023 priorities as follows:

A big task looms for the new Department, with the UK High Court recently announcing that the UK’s Net Zero Strategy was "unlawful" and "inadequate" to meet the country’s 2050 net zero ambitions, ordering that the strategy be recalculated and released by the end of March 2023.  

Time will tell as to whether the BEIS breakup impacts government momentum and if critical materials and energy transition get increased attention via these new structures.  Project Blue nonetheless considers the new department a positive reaffirmation of the UK government’s commitment to Net Zero, and one that suggests that those on the “right” of the UK’s Conservative Party have not managed to win the argument with regard to softening the country’s climate policy.