Written question WQ88058

Oil heating has a very high carbon footprint and we need to move towards low carbon alternatives if we are going to meet our emissions targets. However, we are aware that there are challenges in preparing some of our homes for low carbon heating.

We will be consulting on a heat strategy later this year. One of the key principles of the strategy is that we will ensure a just transition, which will mean that households throughout Wales have access to the information and support they need to reduce the climate impacts of our homes. This includes addressing the additional challenges of older and poorly insulated homes as well as learning from our Optimised Retrofit Programme and our Warm Homes Programme.

Our strategy will set out how we will break down the barriers to low carbon heating in Wales as well as the key role the UK Government also has to play, such as through releasing funds to insulate our draughty homes and rebalancing electricity costs to make the financial case to shift to low carbon heating. We will ensure the conditions are right for households to switch before implementing any phase-out.