Following hard on the heels of the UN’s warning about the inevitability of disastrous global warming arising from the world’s present emissions reduction practices, the UK’s Climate Change Committee has offered advice on the level of the country’s 2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the UK government, at the request of secretary of state for Energy, Ed Miliband.
The CCC recommends that the UK’s NDC commits to reduce territorial greenhouse gas emissions by 81% from 1990 to 2035. This is based on the CCC’s advice on the UK’s Seventh Carbon Budget, due to be published in February 2025. It is said to be informed by the latest science, technological developments, and the UK’s national circumstances.
Professor Piers Forster, interim Chair of the Climate Change Committee, said:
“With climate damages already felt around the world, targeting an 81% emissions reduction by 2035 sets the right level of ambition. Our analysis shows this can be achieved in a way that benefits jobs and the economy, provided we hit the country’s 2030 target – set in line with the CCC’s advice in 2020.
“The technologies needed to achieve it are available, at a competitive price, today. Investment in low carbon technologies – electric vehicles, heat pumps, and renewables – needs to come now for this target to be achievable. Businesses will start to invest when they have confidence in what the government’s long term policy plans are. We need to see the government’s commitment to climate reflected in the upcoming Budget.”
“More than any commitment, what we really need is action. I have no doubt that the United Kingdom can once again be a leader on the international stage – in both deeds and words.”
The CCC’s advice includes these notes on the NDC and the UK’s own carbon budgets. The NDC does not include international aviation and shipping emissions in the target. This is in line with UNFCCC convention.
The UK’s 2030 NDC is a 68% reduction against 1990 levels. The CCC’s Sixth Carbon Budget (published in 2020) includes the year 2035. The emissions reduction in the Sixth Carbon Budget for 2035 is 78% against 1990 levels. The Sixth Carbon Budget advice does include IAS emissions, and these emissions must be addressed to meet this target.
