The Government will enshrine in UK law the world’s most ambitious climate change target to reduce emissions by 78% by 2035 compared with levels in 1990.
In line the independent Climate Change Committee’s recommendations, this sixth Carbon Budget limits the volume of greenhouse gases emitted over a five-year period from 2033 to 2037, taking the UK more than three-quarters of the way to reaching net zero by 2050.
The Carbon Budget aims to ensure Britain fulfills its contribution to climate change while remaining consistent with the Paris Agreement temperature goal to limit global warming to well below 2°C and pursue efforts towards 1.5°C.
For the first time, this Carbon Budget will incorporate the UK’s share of international aviation and shipping emissions.
The news comes ahead of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s address to the opening session of the US Leaders Summit on Climate, hosted by US President Joe Biden on Earth Day (22 April).
Mr Johnson will urge countries to make more effort to tackle climate change and set demanding targets to reduce emissions by 2030 to align with net zero.
PROGRESS
The Government is already working towards its commitment to reduce emissions in 2030 by at least 68% compared with 1990 levels through the UK’s latest Nationally Determined Contribution – the highest reduction target to date made by a major economy.
Today’s announcement adds to the goal to achieve a 78% reduction by 2035.
The new target will become enshrined in law by the end of June 2021, with legislation setting out the Government’s commitments laid in Parliament tomorrow (21 April).
The Government has already laid the groundwork to end the UK’s contribution to climate change by 2050, starting with strategies that support industries to decarbonise while growing the economy and creating new, long-term green jobs.
STRATEGIES
This includes the publication of the Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy, a blueprint to reduce emissions by two-thirds in 15 years, as well as more than £1 billion government funding to cut emissions from industry, schools and hospitals.
The UK is also the first G7 country to agree a North Sea Transition Deal to support the oil and gas industry’s transition to clean, green energy while supporting 40,000 jobs.
Other strategies include the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan for a green industrial revolution and the Government’s Energy White Paper.
The Government’s sixth Carbon Budget of 78% is based on its own analysis and looks to meet this reduction target through investing and capitalising on new green technologies and innovation.
Other initiatives include publication of the Heating and Building Strategy and Transport Decarbonisation Plan later this Spring.
The cross-government Net Zero Strategy will also be published ahead of COP26.
The UK is the first country to enter legally binding long-term carbon budgets into legislation, first introduced as part of the 2008 Climate Change Act. Five carbon budgets have since been made laws.