By Government plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 68%
The government has announced plans and promised to cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than two thirds (68%) of what they were in 1990, by 2030.
Under the Paris climate change agreement of 2015, all countries are obliged to update their commitments to cut emissions and deliver NDCs by the end of 2020.
The UK is the first major economy to announce its NDC and is hoping its promise to effectively increase the emissions reduction from 53% to 68% will encourage other countries to follow suit.
But it’s an ambitious plan, given current figures showing the UK has only reduced its emissions by 45% since 1990.
The announcement follows on from Boris Johnson’s proposal for a 10-point green plan in November.
Richard Black, director of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said:
“Britain is out ahead of most of the other big nations, it’s committed more than the EU is likely to do, and it’s more than the US is likely to be able to do, and certainly more than the likes of Australia have done”.
“It’s roughly on track for getting to the legally binding net zero target and the hope clearly is that it will encourage other countries to come forward”.
“There are a number of big countries that haven’t put forward this kind of commitment, for example India, and Russia is another”.
But Professor Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development, said:
“It’s whether they can affect the impacts of the climate on the most vulnerable countries and communities and they’re not going to be able to do that, so from our perspective, it isn’t enough”.
“I think the 68% reduction is a move in the right direction. However, from the perspective of the most vulnerable countries, it isn’t enough because it won’t keep warming to 1.5 degrees”.
Labour’s shadow business secretary Ed Miliband said the party welcomed the “important strengthening” of the 2030 target, but said it was the “minimum we should aim for”.
