The UK Context
UK Climate Change Act 2008: this legislates a commitment to 100% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 from 1990 levels, with five yearly carbon budgets to set actions and review progress. However, the level of these budgets is not aligned to the Paris Agreement.
Committee on Climate Change: This is the UK Government’s advisory body on climate change. They have highlighted the need to close the gap between rhetoric and action – setting a carbon reduction target is the ‘easy part’ – identifying the actions on how to reach it is much more challenging. The areas of focus they have suggested are lagging is in mobility and the built environment.
Government target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050: so far, national level installation of renewables and decommissioning of coal has reduced emissions from electricity. The UK will have phased out coal completely by 2025. The continued decarbonisation of energy, especially the management of peak demands across the power grid, is a significant challenge. The Queen’s Speech in October 2019 introduced a new Environment Bill, which will influence how this target and other related goals – such as ending the sale of fossil fuel powered vehicles by 2040 – are delivered.
Clean Growth identified as a Grand Challenge at the heart of the UK Industrial Strategy: with clean growth identified as a Grand Challenge, with missions to at least halve the energy use of new buildings by 2030 and establish the world’s first net-zero carbon industrial cluster by 2040 and at least 1 low carbon cluster by 2030.
Sustained protests led by Extinction Rebellion and Youth Strike 4 Climate: both movements have organised local and national protests and other types of action to draw attention to the need to address climate breakdown. Whilst not everyone has been won over, the issue is justifiably a high priority among a majority of people of all ages. Both movements have asked Government to meet the reality of climate breakdown with honesty: acknowledge the scale of the problem. WMCA’s climate emergency declaration is that acknowledgment at regional scale – although the next step, to meet that emergency with the thought, care, and resources that requires will take more effort to achieve.
See: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2008/27/contents