Driving UK Climate Policy Forward: The UK’s Commitment to Net Zero by 2050
By: British Consulate General New York
Tags: Clean Energy, Environment, Climate Change, Green Energy, Climate

By Antony Phillipson, Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for North America and Consul General in New York

The UK has long been committed to being global climate change leader. We were the first country in the world to pass long-term legally binding climate targets through the 2008 Climate Change Act. We are successfully transitioning away from coal power, having recently gone two weeks without coal power for the first time since the Industrial Revolution. Our offshore wind turbines made 48% of Europe’s offshore wind capacity at the end of 2018. These efforts have helped the UK decouple carbon emissions from economic growth — since 1990, we have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 42%, while growing our economy by over 70%.

While we should take pride in our progress to date, our ambitions must keep pace with technological change and the latest climate science. In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 degrees made clear that to avoid the most dangerous effects of climate change, global emissions of carbon dioxide need to reach net zero by around the middle of the century.

In response to that, on 12 June the UK announced its commitment to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Net zero means that any remaining emissions at that time will need to be entirely balanced by removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. In short, we will end our contribution to climate change.

Some have asked what this will cost the UK economy. The UK’s independent Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has estimated that meeting the net zero target could cost the equivalent of around 1–2% of GDP in 2050 — the same amount previously estimated as the cost of reducing emissions by 80% by 2050 and which we committed to in 2008. But these numbers actually overstate the relative climate change costs as they do not factor in the benefits of clean growth or the huge costs of unmitigated climate change.

The costs of clean technologies in power and transport are actually falling rapidly, and in many countries renewables now generate electricity at lower cost than fossil fuels. As low carbon technologies come to dominate markets in all sectors of the economy, they will also create opportunities and are already having an increasingly positive impact on the UK’s GDP. Our clean economy already employs almost 400,000 people and is growing faster than GDP, and low carbon technology and clean energy contribute £44.5 billion to our economy every year.

Net zero means that any remaining emissions at that time will need to be entirely balanced by removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

As for how we will implement the net zero target, the UK Government published two key climate documents in 2017. The Clean Growth Strategy set out proposals for decarbonising the UK economy through the 2020s. We also published our Industrial Strategy, which is playing a key role in developing our industries for the greener future. The Industrial Strategy sets out four Grand Challenges to put the UK at the forefront of the industries of the future, ensuring that the UK takes advantage of major global changes, improving people’s lives and the country’s productivity.

Clean Growth is one of those Grand Challenges, and includes a number of priorities to help reduce emissions including:

Developing smart systems for cheap and clean energy across power, heating and transport.

Making the UK the global standard-setter for finance that supports clean growth.

Developing UK leadership in low carbon transport.

Transforming construction techniques to dramatically improve efficiency.

Making our energy-intensive industries competitive in the clean economy.

In the coming months, we will publish further details including our forthcoming Energy White Paper, which will outline plans for meeting the Government’s vision for the energy system in 2050, and our Green Finance Strategy, recognising the importance of accelerating private investment to support delivery of our Clean Growth objectives.

A global push for net zero

While the UK has taken a lead on these issues by being amongst the first to legislate for net zero the IPCC’s Special Report and the UN Secretary General have made it clear that for us to be successful all countries need to act. We urge other countries to respond to the UN Secretary General’s call to action and join us in committing to net zero emissions. We will also continue to work closely with our Canadian colleagues to encourage support for the Powering Past Coal Alliance, a coalition of national and sub-national governments, businesses and organisations working to advance the transition away from unabated coal power generation.

As part of our climate response, we want to help developing countries, in particular, to deliver their climate agendas. We are providing £5.8bn in international climate finance between 2016 and 2020 to help developing countries reduce emissions, build resilience to climate change, tackle deforestation and pursue clean and sustainable economic growth.

Through our climate work at home and abroad, the UK is helping to develop a cleaner, greener future for our planet. As my Prime Minister said on 12 June “now is the time to go further and faster to safeguard the environment for our children…Standing by is not an option. Reaching net zero by 2050 is an ambitious target, but it is crucial that we achieve it to ensure we protect our planet for future generations.”