UK Aims For Net-Zero Target "At An Appropriate Point In The Future"

authordefault
on

By Megan Darby,ย Climate Homeย News

The UKย willย draft newย laws that will cut emissions to net-zero,ย climate minister Claire Perry announced onย Tuesday.

In a submission to the UNโ€™s climate change agency,ย Perry said:ย โ€œThe UK will need to legislate for a net-zero emissions target at an appropriate point in the future to provide legal certainty on where the UK isย heading.โ€

The notice was given in a cover letter forย the UKโ€™s 2050 climate goals to the UN. She added: โ€œWe hope the UK can be an inspirational example of what is possibleโ€ and committed to working with other parties to help them submit their own long termย goals.

The UKโ€™s own long term plan was its Clean Growth Strategy, a long-awaited suite of environmental measures released in October 2017.ย The cover letter pointedly referred to the strategy as the UKโ€™s โ€œcurrentโ€ย policy.

Perry did not commit to lowering the UKโ€™s own 2050 targetย below the 80% cut by 2050 mandated by the countryโ€™s climateย act.

But earlier on Tuesday, at a side event of a British Commonwealth leaders summit in London,ย Perry said the independent Committee on Climate Change (CCC)ย would be instructed to advise onย how theย UKโ€™s long-term climate goals could meetย the aspirational 1.5C limit agreedย inย Paris.

The CCC would be askedย take into account the latest science on the 1.5C goal, which is the subject of a special report due to be finalised by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) inย September.

โ€œAfter the IPCC report later this year, we will be seeking the advice of the UKโ€™s independent advisers, the Committee on Climate Change, on the implications of the Paris Agreement for the UKโ€™s long-term emissions reduction targets,โ€ saidย Perry.

Under the UKโ€™s 2008 Climate Change Act, it is committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions 80% from 1990 levels by 2050, based on efforts to hold global temperature rise below 2C. The CCC is responsible for setting a series of interim targets or โ€œcarbon budgetsโ€ to get there, and periodically assessingย progress.

The country is on track to meet its near-term milestones, butย the CCC has warned of โ€œsignificant gapsโ€ in government policy for maintaining momentum through the 2020s andย 30s.

Professor Joanna Haigh, co-director of the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London, said meeting the Paris Agreement 1.5C temperature goalย would require faster emissions cuts โ€“ to net zero byย 2050.

โ€œSo although the UK Climate Change Act was ground-breaking in its day, its existing 80% target now looks somewhat inadequate; other nations have already set net-zero targets in line with the Paris Accord, and the UK should logically adopt one too,โ€ saidย Haigh.

The UK government made a similar commitment to enshrine net-zero emissions into law under the prime ministership of David Cameron in 2016. Perryโ€™s statementsย on Tuesday indicatedย the policy remained in place and began steps towards itsย implementation.

Climate advocates welcomed the announcement, including Laurence Tubiana, a key architect of the Paris Agreement and head of the European Climate Foundation, and David Paul, environment minister of the Marshallย Islands.

Last week the European Commissionย told EU ministersย it would updateย itsย 2050 climate roadmap this year.ย 26 countries have signed up to produce similar strategies, including Brazil, Japan andย Canada.

UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa last week showed her support forย an initiativeย to inform the development of long-term strategies. โ€œAs we take action before 2020, we have to keep an eye on the future,โ€ sheย wrote.

To support others in developing long-term strategies, Perryย promised ยฃ3.5 million ($5.0m) to extend the โ€œ2050 Calculatorโ€ tool and ยฃ1.2m ($1.7m) to help Pacific nations cutย emissions.

Science ministerย Sam Gyimah announced a ยฃ3.5m programmeย using British satellites to help Kenya plan and respond to disasters like drought, floods andย famine.

Meanwhile UK opposition lawmakers endorsed calls for a โ€œclimate damages taxโ€ on fossil fuel producers to fund support for climate changeย victims.

Vanuatu was due to host the Commonwealth meeting butย had to withdraw after Cyclone Pam hit in Marchย 2015.

This article originally appeared on Climate Homeย News.

Image: Mary_R_Smith/Pixabay/CC0

authordefault

Related Posts

on

DeSmog estimates raise questions over climate benefits as EU officials consider whether the technology should qualify for billions of euros in subsidies.

DeSmog estimates raise questions over climate benefits as EU officials consider whether the technology should qualify for billions of euros in subsidies.
Analysis
on

Experts accuse Farageโ€™s party of a โ€˜deliberate campaign of misinformation about climate changeโ€™ in the House of Commons.

Experts accuse Farageโ€™s party of a โ€˜deliberate campaign of misinformation about climate changeโ€™ in the House of Commons.
on

A Conservative peer and former UK trade advisor were among those who spoke at the summit.

A Conservative peer and former UK trade advisor were among those who spoke at the summit.
on

All Conservative appointees to the Board of Trade have been binned by the new Labour government.

All Conservative appointees to the Board of Trade have been binned by the new Labour government.