We welcome the Government’s announcement today of a new plan to cut UK emissions to ‘almost zero’ by 2050 – but the climate science calls for much greater urgency.
This is a wonderful sign that there is political will to move in the right direction, compared to the Government’s previous 80% target by 2050, but the Government must go much further must faster. Particularly in light of the UK’s historic contribution to global emissions, CAfS agrees with calls for the UK to reach net zero by 2030.
The UN’s report by the IPCC last October was very clear – globally we have 12 years to take far-reaching, unprecedented action to stop climate change before it goes beyond human control.
The UK Committee on Climate Change, which advises the Government, has highlighted the policy gap between action being taken currently to cut emissions in the UK and the level of action required to reach net zero by 2050. We hope the Government’s new plan will address these gaps and steer meaningful, rapid action, and we look forward to seeing the detail of the plan.
The announcement is a heartening sign that demands and protests from the public, including young people, are having an impact.
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