Government set to bring forward climate ambitions

Government set to announce plans to cut carbon emissions by 78% by 2035. 

The prime minister’s commitments, which will become law, will bring forward the current target for reducing carbon emissions by 15 years.

This new target is in line with the advice from the Climate Change Committee, published last year for the Government’s sixth carbon budget. It is expected to also include emissions from aviation and shipping for the first time.

To meet the target, the committee said that there would have to be more electric vehicles, an extension of offshore wind power, a reduction in meat and dairy consumption and the planting of new woodland.

The announcement is scheduled to be made ahead of a major US summit on Thursday where President Joe Biden is expected to set out a new US target for reducing emissions.

Vaughan Lindsay, CEO of ClimateCare said: ‘It’s encouraging to see the UK Government has ramped up its climate ambition and acknowledge the vital role of offsetting emissions through tree planting and carbon removal technologies to meet net-zero. However, as always, the devil will be in the detail.

‘The UK was already behind on its target to achieve net-zero by 2050, so we are all going to need to make some very radical changes to turn this ambition into a reality.

‘In our view, there will be increasing pressure on all businesses (of all sizes) to step up and deliver their own net-zero positions. We strongly recommend organisations do that ahead of the curve. Taking action today will allow businesses to decide their own course – meeting carbon reduction and compensation targets in a way that makes sense for their business and in line with their ethos.

‘Acting now can also help manage costs too; we are already seeing strong price rises for carbon credits, and this will only accelerate as we near 2035. Certainly, businesses we work with are already implementing plans to manage this price and supply risk. Organisations who delay will face increasing risk of legislative drivers and higher prices for the carbon removals credits they will rely on to achieve their net-zero targets.’

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