CCC recommends deeper emissions cuts by 2035

These figures – measured against a baseline from 1990 and excluding aviation and shipping – would require deeper cuts than recommended previously by the CCC. In 2020, as part of the Committee’s Sixth Carbon Budget, a target of 78 per cent was deemed sufficient to keep the UK on track for its climate commitments, as outlined in its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The raised target reflects both a degree of inaction from the UK in the intervening years, as well as a widely acknowledged worsening of effects from the climate crisis.   

“With climate damages already felt around the world, targeting an 81 per cent emissions reduction by 2035 sets the right level of ambition,” said Professor Piers Forster, interim chair of the Climate Change Committee.

“Our analysis shows this can be achieved in a way that benefits jobs and the economy, provided we hit the country’s 2030 target – set in line with the CCC’s advice in 2020.”