Climate change: Big cut in UK emissions needed, says watchdog

The UK needs to make huge cuts to its greenhouse gas emissions this decade to help the world avoid the worst impacts of rising temperatures, the government’s climate watchdog has said.

The Climate Change Committee (CCC) says the UK has the technologies to do this, but meeting the goal would require much greater investment in renewable energy, electric cars and heat pumps.

While the UK has already cut its emissions by more than 50% since 1990, the CCC says it should extend this to 81% by 2035, which would make a “credible contribution” to the international goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C.

A spokesperson said the government would carefully consider the CCC’s advice.

If the government commits to the suggested target, it would represent a significant advance on the UK’s current international pledge to cut emissions by 68% by 2030.

It is, however, broadly in line with the UK’s legally-binding carbon-cutting path towards net zero emissions by 2050.

These figures do not include emissions from products manufactured abroad and imported, nor those from international flights and shipping, in line with UN standards.

The UK’s relative success so far has been largely down to cleaning up electricity, with progress in other areas, such as home heating, proving more difficult.

But the CCC is confident that the UK’s targets are still possible.

“All the core technologies have got cheaper, and they keep getting cheaper, and that’s what gives us more and more confidence that we’ll be able to achieve this very ambitious level of emissions reductions,” Nigel Topping, member of the CCC, told BBC News Climate Editor Justin Rowlatt.

As part of global agreements to tackle climate change, countries have to submit new carbon-cutting targets by early next year.

But the government is expected to announce its new target early, at the upcoming UN climate conference (COP29) in Azerbaijan in November.

It hopes this will set the ball rolling and encourage other nations to ramp up their plans.

“Britain is back in the business of climate leadership,” a spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said.

The focus of COP29, though, will be money.

There are hopes for a new deal on the funds that richer countries – largely responsible for global warming – should give to poorer nations to help them tackle climate change.

The CCC calls for the UK to commit its fair share of money in line with its leadership ambitions.

It also says that the government should improve preparations for the impacts of rising temperatures back home.