UK to Speed Up Climate Change Target to Cut Carbon Emissions

The UK government has committed to speed up on reaching its target on climate change to reduce carbon emissions by 78% by 2035. But the big question is whether they can match their ambitions with reality.

The commitments made by Prime Minister Boris Johnson will become law, and will also extend to cover international aviation and shipping, for the first time. It will bring forward the current target for cutting carbon emissions by 15 years. This would put the UK a world-leading position on the issue of climate change.

The climate emergency needs to be viewed as the emergency it is, and needs more action. The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts a major increase in CO2 emissions from energy this year, as the world bounces back from the pandemic.

To hit the targets needs renewable electricity, low carbon heating, electric cars, and cutting down on meat and dairy. Homes need to be better insulated, and people encouraged to drive less and walk and cycle more. Flying is likely to become more costly for those who travel most often.

The government has accepted advice from its independent Climate Change Committee (CCC) to adopt the emissions reduction. Environmentalists welcome the move, but point out that ministers have consistently failed to achieve previous targets.

A lot of policy changes are needed to achieve the goal, and the government needs to be clear how it will be funded. Policy should focus around energy efficiency, wind and solar, storage of electricity and the management of the grid.

The government is still failing

The move is hailed as “fantastic” news, but we’re still not on track to meet previous climate commitments. So in many ways the government is still failing. The Green Homes Grant for insulating homes has been scrapped, airport expansion continues and there’s still a big push on a budget for roads.

At the moment, there is little confidence in the PM and his intentions. There seems to be a range of small things instead of concentrating efforts on things that will deliver the most cuts in the quickest time.

The CCC report says low carbon investment must scale up to £50bn a year in the UK. But in time, investment costs will be cancelled out by fuel savings from more efficient equipment. And around 1% of GDP national wealth would need to be spent over 30 years on moving away from fossil fuels.

It is important for the government to emphasise focus on their climate change efforts over the next 10 years. The current decade will be the most decisive of progress and action. Policy needs to be scaled up across every sector, businesses need to be encouraged to invest, and people in the UK need to be engaged in the challenge.

Setting an ambitious target on emissions boosts the UK’s diplomatic drive to encourage other countries to set their own targets. The UK now has the opportunity to spark a global green industrial revolution. But this will only be credible if their actions live up to the promises.

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