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The UK, which shut its last coal-fired power plant at the end of September, has set a target to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 81% by 2035, compared to 1990 levels.
Under its first nationally determined contribution (NDC) — or decarbonisation pledge to the world — the UK said it would cut emissions 68% by 2030 (as of early 2024, the nation’s emissions have declined 53%). The revised NDC, announced at the COP29 climate conference in Azerbaijan, is for the first half of the next decade.
Why it matters: The 2035 target is consistent with the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial times (although it’s generally agreed that the opportunity to do so has already passed).
At a time when the US is expected to scale back its climate ambitions under Donald Trump, the UK’s ambitious new decarbonisation targets have been well received by scientists and activists.
The new goal “sets a powerful example for other G20 nations,” said Simon Stiell, the UN’s climate chief. “Bold NDC targets are vital to tackle the climate crisis.”
The latest: Achieving the 2035 target would boost the UK’s economic growth rate, make the country more energy secure, and create new jobs, prime minister Keir Starmer said at COP29.
“We urge all parties to come forward with ambitious targets of their own,” he said, adding that the new government would honour the commitment made by the previous administration to provide £11.6 billion in international climate finance between April 2021 and March 2026.
Starmer’s administration has promised to ramp up climate action. It recently launched a state-owned clean energy company, created a wealth fund to invest in “green industries”, scrapped a de facto ban on onshore wind, and said it wouldn’t approve any new oil and gas licences in the North Sea.
It’s also pledged to all but eliminate fossil fuels from the electricity mix by 2030.
More action needed: The UK’s updated NDC “is a shining example of climate leadership,” says Stientje van Veldhoven, the World Resources Institute’s vice president and regional director for Europe. “Let’s hope it will inspire other G20 economies to follow suit.”
To achieve its 2035 goal, the UK will need to set sector-specific targets for energy, transport, and land use and agriculture when it submits its new national climate commitment in early 2025, as doing so would send clear signals to the private sector, van Veldhoven says.
“The UK should continue to foster new jobs in the energy industries of the future, while making electricity cheaper and cleaner and providing more efficient and advanced zero-carbon technologies such as electric vehicles.
“The government should also work in partnership with farmers to support them to adopt low-carbon and other environmentally-friendly practices, and with the whole of society to protect and rewet peatlands and to advance the protection and restoration of nature.”
