The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has released a new report ‘The scientific and international context for the fifth carbon budget’ setting out the climate science and global circumstances that will inform its advice to Government on the fifth carbon budget.
The Committee's advice is due to be published at the end of November, ahead of the COP21 climate talks in Paris.
Under the Climate Change Act (2008), the CCC is required to advise the Government, by the end of 2015, on the level of the UK’s fifth carbon budget (the limit on the amount of greenhouse gases that can be emitted by the UK between 2028 and 2032).
This report examines the scientific and international circumstances the Committee is required to consider under the Climate Change Act when advising the Government and Parliament on carbon budgets.
The final advice on the fifth carbon budget must take into account other criteria in the Act, including: the impact of the budget on the economy, the government’s fiscal position, affordability of energy for households, security of supply, the devolved administrations and the competitiveness of businesses. The budget must also be on a path to the UK’s 2050 target of at least an 80% reduction in emissions below 1990 levels.