Government to unveil new net zero plans this week
- Ministers ordered to revise strategy following successful legal challenge by Friends of the Earth, ClientEarth and Good Law Project
- New NZS expected to be unveiled alongside other energy and climate announcements
- **Friends of the Earth campaigners and lawyers are available for comment before and after the announcement**
The government is due to publish a revised Net Zero Strategy later this week, after ministers were ordered by the High Court last year to strengthen the government’s climate plans.
A successful legal challenge brought by Friends of the Earth, ClientEarth and Good Law Project found that the government’s existing Net Zero Strategy is unlawful and does not show how key emissions reduction targets will be met – more information about the challenge can be viewed here.
The revised strategy is likely to be unveiled alongside other energy and climate-related announcements, which are expected to include responses to:
- The government’s Net Zero Review, carried out by Chris Skidmore MP
- The Climate Change Committee’s annual report to parliament, which previously warned that credible plans exist for just two fifths of the required emissions reductions needed to meet the sixth carbon budget
If the new package of measures gives the go-ahead to continued fossil fuel use through carbon capture and storage (CCS) and for hydrogen production, as reported, it will further underline the government’s already weak commitment to tackling the climate emergency and will jeopardise the UK’s legally-binding climate goals.
Last week, the world’s scientists issued a ‘final warning’ on the climate emergency with the UN Secretary General calling their report “a clarion call to massively fast-track climate efforts by every country and every sector and on every timeframe. Our world needs climate action on all fronts: everything, everywhere, all at once”.
Friends of the Earth campaigners and lawyers are available for comment before and after the NZS is published.
