The UK government has set a target of an 87% cut in carbon emissions by 2042
The British government said on Tuesday it was sticking to its net-zero target despite pressure from global conflict on energy supplies, and over the next fifteen years the UK will cut emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases by 87% of 1990 levels.
The UK has a legally binding target of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050, set in 2008. By law, the government must legislate caps for future five-year budgets on a strict timeline.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the government would accept the independent Climate Change Committee’s recommendation for an 87 per cent target for the next budget covering 2038-2042.
The government argues that switching to clean energy will reduce the country’s exposure to fuel price shocks seen in the Russia-Ukraine war and conflicts in the Middle East.
“As Britain faces the second fossil fuel shock of the last decade, the only way to protect family and business finances is to turn to clean domestic energy that we control,” Miliband said.
Scientists have said this target puts the UK on track to meet the 2050 net zero target, but Tuesday’s announcement did not include details of how that target will be achieved.
“I think this is very good news as a milestone on the road to net zero by 2050. But alongside that ambition, we need both a coherent, unified plan to achieve this and a delivery panel tasked with delivering it, independent of government, independent of politics and independent of (the Climate Change Committee),” said Martin Siegert, professor of earth sciences at the University of Exeter.
The opposition Conservative and Reform UK parties argue the government should soften its renewable energy targets and extract more oil and gas from the North Sea to reduce Britain’s dependence on imported energy.
Conservative Party energy spokeswoman Claire Coutinho said the emissions target would “make us weaker, poorer and make everyone’s energy bills even higher”.
