LONDON — The British government said Tuesday that it's sticking to its net-zero goal, despite pressure on energy supplies from global conflicts, and will reduce the United Kingdom's planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions by 87% of 1990 levels in the next decade and a half.
The U.K. has a legally binding target, set in 2008, of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. By law, the government must legislate for emissions caps for future five-yearly budgets on a strict timetable.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said that the government will accept the advice of its independent Climate Change Committee of an 87% target for the next budget, covering the years 2038 to 2042.
The government argues that moving to clean energy will reduce the country's exposure to fuel-price shocks like those seen from the Russia-Ukraine war and the conflict in the Middle East.
“As Britain faces the second fossil fuel shock of the decade, the only way to protect family and business finances is to drive for clean homegrown power that we control,” Miliband said.
Scientists said that the goal puts the U.K. on course to meet its 2050 net zero target, though Tuesday's announcement doesn't include details of how it will be achieved.
“I think this is very good news as a milestone to net zero at 2050. But, alongside the ambition, we need both a coherent joined-up plan to achieve it and a delivery board — independent of government, politics and the (Climate Change Committee) — tasked with making it happen," said Martin Siegert, professor of geosciences at the University of Exeter.
The opposition Conservative and Reform UK parties argue that the government should water down renewable energy targets, and extract more oil and gas from the North Sea to reduce Britain’s dependence on imported energy.
Conservative Party energy spokeswoman Claire Coutinho said that the emissions target “will make us weaker, poorer and send everyone’s energy bills even higher.”
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