The UK has unveiled a punchy new climate goal to slash its emissions by 81% by 2035.
The government said it is on a mission to “tackle the climate crisis in a way that makes the British people better off”, by investing in clean, home-grown power and cutting ties with volatile fossil fuel markets.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “The only way to protect current generations is by making Britain a clean energy superpower, and the only way to protect future generations is by tackling the climate crisis.”
The new target to cut emissions by 81% compared with 1990 levels would “protect our environment, deliver energy security and restore our global climate reputation”, he said.
The pledge has gone down well at the COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, where rich, polluting countries like the UK are expected to lead by example among the 200 countries gathered for the talks.
Kenya’s foreign secretary called the target “quite ambitious”.
The world needs “concrete examples of one of the key economies making positive strides towards dealing with climate change”, Musalia Mudavadi told Sky News.
But he warned countries would be watching to ensure “that nobody is back-pedalling”.
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The UK’s pledge matches what its climate advisers say is needed to tackle climate change at home and meet a promise it made under the landmark Paris Agreement, struck at COP21 in 2015.
But the advisers, the Climate Change Committee (CCC), warned the government is missing plans it needs to get to that target.
“The good news is [the 81% target] is achievable,” said the CCC’s new chief Emma Pinchbeck.
“The less good news for government is they are behind on their [existing] targets.”
That’s not because “we don’t have the technologies available, or that the economics don’t work”, she said.
“The issue is that we haven’t had a delivery plan from the government that can get us there.”
Starmer’s promise a small ray of sunshine
Sir Keir Starmer’s arrival at COP29 with a promise to drastically cut the UK’s carbon emissions will be a small ray of sunshine in an otherwise gloomy start to the climate talks.
The election of Donald Trump, who has vowed to drag the world’s largest economy out of the negotiations, was a colossal setback for a round of talks dedicated to raising ambition – and cash for the transition away from fossil fuels.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Sir Keir was one of the few heads of the G20 to actually show up at the talks. President Biden is absent, so too are the leaders of China, Brazil, Germany and France.
The UK’s commitment to cutting emissions will be seen as a statement that it is possible to be a leading economy and leave fossil fuels behind. This reinforces the message these talks are urgently trying to send: that net zero is an opportunity for growth, not economic suicide.
But it’s a political risk. Getting to the 81% cut in emissions within 10 years will take a colossal and, in the short term, costly effort.
Labour’s plans for zero carbon electricity, already ambitious, won’t get us there alone. Making homes more energy efficient and heating them without gas will be essential. So too will fiddly things like protecting peat bogs, uplands and reforming agriculture.
Within the corridors of this summit, Sir Keir’s gamble will be celebrated. Back home, the response might be less enthusiastic.
The UK has been “arguably the leading country in the world at getting emissions out of the power plant that provides the electricity coming through your plug”.
But the “problem right now is definitely in how we heat our homes and transport, how we get around”, and flying and shipping also need plans to get clean, she said.