The Prime Minister gas announced a new plan aims for at least 68 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the decade, compared to 1990 levels.

With this latest ratcheting up of commitment, the UK will be pledging to reduce emissions by the fastest rate of any major economy, ahead of the UN Climate Ambition Summit later this month, and follows hot on the heels of the Ten Point Plan to create and support 250,000 jobs whilst helping to eradicate our contribution to climate change.

Today’s target is the first set by the UK following its departure from the EU, demonstrating the UK’s leadership in tackling climate change. Over the past decade, the UK has cut carbon emissions by more than any similar developed country and was the first major economy to legislate for net-zero emissions by 2050.

Boris Johnson said of the new commitments: “We have proven we can reduce our emissions and create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the process – uniting businesses, academics, NGOs and local communities in a common goal to go further and faster to tackle climate change. Today, we are taking the lead with an ambitious new target to reduce our emissions by 2030, faster than any major economy, with our Ten Point Plan helping us on our path to reach it.”

The commitment comes as the National Audit Office (NAO) has assessed the barriers to the UK meeting the world-leading climate change target, saying that this will be a "colossal challenge”. However, the report makes it clear that whilst the cost of cutting carbon is uncertain, the cost of allowing temperatures to rise would probably be greater.


The NAO report notes that between 2008 and 2018, the UK’s emissions reduced by 28 per cent, faster than any other G20 economy, with most of this reduction coming from changes to how electricity is generated, with a switch away from coal and increasing amounts coming from renewable sources such as wind and solar power. Reducing emissions further to achieve net-zero it believes will require far wide-ranging changes to the UK economy, including further investment in renewable electricity generation, as well as changing the way people travel, how land is used and how buildings are heated.

NAO report here</b>.