Climate Change: Can The New Targets Get Us To Net Zero?

The UK government is aiming for an emissions cut of 78 per cent, compared with levels in 1990. They want to achieve this by 2035. Is this feasible?

- Jocelyn Timperley

The government has announced an ambitious new climate target by 2035 which will bring the UK more than three-quarters of the way towards its goal to reach climate neutrality.

Announced in April, the target aims for country-wide emissions cut of 78 per cent by 2035, compared to 1990 levels. It will set the UK on track to meet its long-term goal to reach ‘net-zero’ emissions by 2050.

For the first time, the target also incorporates the UK’s share of international aviation and shipping emissions, which will require a ‘transformation’ of these sectors, campaigners say.

“This bold new target places the UK at the forefront of climate pledges and is a significant step up in ambition from just a few years ago,” says Jess Ralston, an analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU). “With long-term and determined policy support, there’s no reason why we can’t seize this huge opportunity to slash emissions while growing our green economy.”

THE TARGET

The UK’s Climate Change Act requires the government to set legally binding climate targets every five years. These set the direction of travel for government and business, says Katie White, executive director of advocacy and campaigns at WWF, and allow successive governments to be held to account should they fail to make progress.