Today the Prime Minister set out an ambitious new climate target to reduce UK emissions by putting us on the path to achieving net zero by 2050 and helping to create and support thousands of green jobs in our industrial heartlands as we secure the health of the planet for generations to come. 

Tackling climate change requires a global effort, and as the first major country to legislate for net zero emissions by 2050 we are leading the way. This announcement comes ahead of the UK co-hosting the Climate Ambition Summit later this month which will call on countries to take similar ambitious steps ahead of COP26 hosted by the UK next year. 

The Government are today pledging ourselves to reducing the UK’s emissions, our Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Climate Agreement, by at least 68 per cent by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. This target that is among the highest in the world and commits us to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by the fastest rate of any major economy so far, and in the past decade, the UK have cut emissions by more than any similar country.

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.

This announcement builds on the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan for a green industrial revolution which will allow us to end our contribution to climate change by 2050, and will create and support up to 250,000 highly-skilled jobs across the whole UK, as we build back better and greener after coronavirus. 

This new target meets the recommendation of experts at the independent Climate Change Committee who advise the Government on emissions targets.