CCC News

Welcome to the latest update from the Committee on Climate Change (CCC).  

The news of the forthcoming general election will not have escaped your attention. According to one recent poll the majority of people in the UK now say the climate crisis will influence how they vote. The Committee will await and then reflect on the election result and the challenges for the new Parliament once we know the outcome. 

Please note we moved offices this summer and are now based at 151 Buckingham Palace Rd, Victoria, London SW1W 9SZ. 

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) will publish its recommendation on the level of the Sixth Carbon Budget in September 2020. The Sixth Carbon Budget, required under the Climate Change Act, will provide ministers with advice on the volume of greenhouse gases the UK can emit during the period 2033-2037. It will set the path to the UK’s new net-zero emissions target in 2050, as the first carbon budget to be set into law following that commitment. The advice will be published three months before it is required by the Climate Change Act to ensure that it precedes the pivotal international climate change conference (COP26) due to take place in Glasgow in December 2020.

The UK has received international backing to host the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in 2020. We are delighted the UK has been confirmed as host for next year’s crucial climate summit, COP26. The coming year will be critical demonstration of the UK’s global leadership. As COP hosts, our credibility rests on the recent decision to make Net Zero law – but also on demonstrating that there are plans in place to meet it.  COP26 is a major milestone for the international effort. It is also the date by which the UK must have raised its own ambition, with real policies and programmes to put us on a credible path to net zero by 2050.  We look forward to supporting the UK presidency.

In May, the CCC published two reports: Net Zero – The UK’s contribution to stopping global warming and Net Zero – Technical Report.

These reports responded to a request from the Governments of the UK, Wales and Scotland, asking the Committee to reassess the UK’s long-term emissions targets. Our new emissions scenarios draw on ten new research projects, three expert advisory groups, and reviews of the work of the IPCC and others.

In July, the CCC published two reports: Reducing UK emissions and Progress in preparing for climate change.

The UK has legislated for net-zero emissions by 2050 therefore the UK Government must show it is serious about its legal obligations. UK action to curb greenhouse gas emissions is lagging far behind what is needed, even to meet previous, less stringent, emissions targets. Meanwhile, action to prepare our homes, businesses and natural environment for a warming world is less ambitious than it was ten years ago.

In August, the CCC published its view on carbon pricing. It was sent in response to a request from the UK Government, Scottish Government and Welsh Government of May 2nd to the Committee on Climate Change on the future of carbon pricing in the UK, specifically in relation to the successor to the EU Emissions Trading System after EU exit. 

This was supported by research on the future of carbon pricing in the UK  from Vivid Economics).

In September, the CCC published its advice on international aviation and shipping.  The letter to the Department of Transport reaffirmed the advice from the net zero report, how and whether international aviation and shipping should be included in the net-zero target and the implications for the industries.

The Government has since stated it is considering the advice provided.