Friends of the Earth, ClientEarth and Good Law Project are taking the Government to the High Court over what Friends of the Earth lawyer, Katie de Kauwe, called “a reckless, high-risk plan”.

A major issue is on whether developing technologies can be counted as part of the Government plan or whether existing methods are the only likely methods of carbon reduction.

This is the second time the three organisations have taken legal action over the legally-binding climate targets.

A successful legal challenge in 2022 ruled that the Government’s climate action plan had breached the Climate Change Act 2008 (CCA) and ordered a revision to its strategy, but this revised strategy, the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan, published in March 2023, is again being challenged as inadequate.

The three organisations maintain that plan contains no information on the assessment of the key policies in its plan. The information that the plan does include indicates that many of the technologies being relied on to deliver substantial emissions savings are as yet unproven, and that many of the proposals are vague and uncertain. ClientEarth argues that this approach is so clearly flawed that it is unlawful and fails to comply with central provisions of the CCA.

Friends of the Earth will also argue that the plan seriously jeopardises the UK’s ability to meet its international commitment to cut its emissions by two thirds by 2030, and will therefore negatively impact future generations, and undermine sustainable development.

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