Committee on Climate Change sets target of 57% cut in emissions by 2028-32

Tue 01 December 2015 View all news

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has published its fifth carbon budget advice, recommending that the level of UK emissions in 2028-32  is set at 1,765 MtCO2e (including international shipping), limiting annual emissions to an average of 57% below 1990 levels.

The Committee says that the advice "balances a range of factors it must consider, keeps the UK on its cost-effective path to the 2050 legislated commitment to reduce UK emissions by at least 80% on 1990 levels, and continues the UK’s historical rate of emissions reduction".

The fifth carbon budget marks the half-way point from the first carbon budget period (2008-2012) to 2050. The scientific evidence confirms that without action to limit warming to the globally agreed level of 2°C, climate change will pose serious risks to the UK and around the world. The UK’s contribution – as set by the 2050 target – is in keeping with, and helps to promote, wider international climate action.

The Committee says that the UK has made good progress to date. Emissions have reduced by 36% on 1990 levels and if current policies are effective will be down by 43-46% in 2020. In order to meet the legislated fourth carbon budget (2023-2027) emissions must fall by 52%. The proposed fifth carbon budget continues along that trajectory, and would continue to cut emissions at lowest-cost to UK businesses and households. These are steady emissions reductions equivalent to 2% per year from 1990-2014, 3% per year from 2014-2030 and 4% per year from 2030-2050.

The Committee says, however, that to keep within the emissions limits set by the fourth and fifth carbon budgets, and to stay on track to 2050, a number of new policies and clear long-term signals to investors are urgently required.

These include measures to ensure that by the 2030s:

  • around 1 in 7 UK homes are heated using low-carbon sources of energy, helping to reduce emissions significantly and drive further innovation in delivering sources of low-carbon heat.
  • the majority of new cars and vans bought in the UK are fully or partially electric, removing a significant proportion of emissions from transport, improving UK air quality and potentially boosting UK manufacturing.
  • the UK is largely powered by low-carbon sources of electricity, delivering power with emissions of below 100 grammes of CO2 per kilowatt-hour (compared to 450g today). Low-carbon options in the power sector are important to support emissions reduction in other sectors, such as transport and heating, as well as to reduce emissions from the power sector itself.
  • insulation is installed in nearly all UK homes where it is cost-effective, reducing the cost of energy to households.

Four carbon budgets have been legislated to date, in line with advice from the CCC. The Government must legislate the level of the fifth carbon budget by June 2016. (Watch Lord Deben, CCC Chairman, highlight the key points of the advice here).

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