Government backing for new oil and coal, airport expansion plans and slow progress on heat pumps show that the UK has lost its leadership on climate issues, a government watchdog warns.

According to the Climate Change Committee (CCC), government efforts to scale up climate action are “worryingly slow”.

A year ago, it was “markedly” more confident that the UK would meet its carbon emission reduction goals.

According to the government, it is committed to achieving its climate goals.

Lord Deben, a former Conservative environment minister, criticized the government’s coal and oil policy in particular.

Having approved the first new deep coal mine in Cumbria for 30 years last December was “total nonsense”, he said.

The plans for a major new oilfield off the coast of Scotland were also damning in the view of Lord Deben. Approximately 300 million barrels of oil could be produced at Rosebank over its lifetime if the project is approved.

In 2050, the UK will no longer contribute any additional greenhouse gases to the atmosphere thanks to legally binding targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The then prime minister Boris Johnson pledged to cut emissions by 68% by the end of this decade at the COP26 UN climate conference in Glasgow in 2021.

As a result of “continued delays in policy development and implementation”, achieving them has become increasingly challenging.

A lack of urgency across government and a “worrying hesitancy” by ministers to lead on climate change were highlighted by the Committee.