Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the amount of UK carbon dioxide equivalent emissions in 2030 from (1) terrestrial emissions, (2) terrestrial emissions plus international aviation and shipping emissions, and (3) the emissions in both of those categories plus import emissions.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The figures below show the Government’s latest published projections for the UK’s territorial emissions in 2030 in million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e), first excluding and then including emissions from International Aviation and Shipping (IAS). These estimates do not take account of future policies or those currently under development, which the Government expects will lead to lower emissions than those reported below.
2030
Terrestrial emissions excluding IAS 327
Terrestrial emissions including IAS 371
The Government publishes estimates of embedded emissions from imported goods in ‘UK and England's carbon footprint to 2021’. However, projections of these emissions are not available.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 26 November (HL2661), whether they intend to make their 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions legally binding in UK law, in the same way as they have made carbon budgets legally binding under the Climate Change Act 2008.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK’s 2030 nationally determined contribution - to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by at least 68% on 1990s levels – is a fair and ambitious contribution to global action on climate change and is in line with the Paris agreement temperature goal. The 2030 NDC was aligned with the advice of the independent Climate Change Committee (CCC) and built on the foundations of well-established UK analysis and policy development for domestic climate change mitigation. We do not consider it necessary to implement new legislation to bring the UK's 2030 NDC into domestic law because of its alignment with the existing, legally-binding carbon budgets framework.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 3 December (HL2700), whether they consider nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement to be legally binding targets in UK law.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK’s 2030 and 2035 nationally determined contributions are fair and ambitious contributions to global action on climate change, in line with the Paris Agreement temperature goal. NDCs are international communications of ambition required to be communicated under the Paris Agreement, a treaty under international law. Alongside our international commitments, the UK was the first country to introduce a legally binding, long-term emissions reduction target under the Climate Change Act 2008. This framework includes the UK’s legislated 2050 net zero target, which the Climate Change Committee has confirmed is consistent with the trajectories of the UK’s 2030 and 2035 NDCs.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the fact that the carbon dioxide emission levels for 2030 specified in the fifth carbon budget are 33 per cent below those specified in the nationally determined contributions for 2030; and what steps they will take to address this disparity.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The fifth carbon budget was set in 2016, when the UK’s legal target was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% on 1990 levels. The Climate Change Act 2008 was amended in 2019 to strengthen the 2050 target to net zero. The UK's 2030 nationally determined contribution to reduce emissions by at least 68% on 1990 levels was set in 2020 to align with the trajectory to achieve net zero by 2050.
The Government will publish a report setting out its plan to meet carbon budgets in due course. This will set out the policies and proposals needed to meet Carbon Budgets 4-6 and the 2030 and 2035 NDC targets.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to making the UK's 2030 nationally determined contribution legally binding in UK law.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK’s 2030 nationally determined contribution – to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by at least 68% on 1990s levels – is a fair and ambitious contribution to global action on climate change, in line with the Paris Agreement temperature goal. NDCs are international communications of ambition under the Paris Agreement, submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Alongside our international commitments, the UK was the first country to introduce a legally binding, long-term emissions reduction target under the Climate Change Act 2008. This framework includes the UK’s legislated 2050 net zero target, which the Climate Change Committee has confirmed is consistent with the trajectory of the UK’s 2030 NDC.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their target level for million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) for each year from 2025 to 2035 for (1) terrestrial emissions, (2) terrestrial emissions plus emissions from international aviation and shipping, and (3) the categories of emissions in (1) and (2) plus import emissions.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
UK’s current and next carbon budgets are set on a territorial basis as follows:
Carbon Budget 6 (2033-2037) includes emissions from international aviation and shipping and is set at 965 MtCO2e over the period.
The Carbon Budget levels have been set in line with advice from the independent Climate Change Committee.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the savings in emissions of million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) by (1) 2030, and (2) 2035, from the net zero-related policies they have introduced since being elected.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government will lay a report before Parliament next year, setting out its plans for meeting UK emissions targets up to the end of carbon budget 6 in 2037 - this will set out the forecast emissions savings associated with specific policies and proposals.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether it is still their position that, as set out in the Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener, published in October 2021, a global temperature increase of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius means that "we could lose control of our climate for good".
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government's position is consistent with evidence from the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments, which state that every increment of warming increases the impacts and risks of climate change, including the likelihood of triggering climate tipping points, especially above 1.5 degrees Celsius. We are already seeing the impacts of climate change globally and domestically and further warming will worsen this. This is why the Government committed to an ambitious 1.5C-aligned emissions reduction target at COP29 last month and is encouraging other countries to do the same.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the status in UK law of the Paris Agreement objective of limiting the global average temperature increase to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Climate Change Act made the UK the first country to introduce a legally binding, long-term emissions reduction target. This sets our commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050 in law. As advised by the UK’s Committee on Climate Change in June 2019 and December 2020, this target aligns with the published pathways from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for meeting the Paris Agreement’s long-term temperature goal of 1.5°C.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what repercussions, if any, they would face for failing to comply with their obligations under the Paris Agreement.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Paris Agreement holds governments to account for their obligations through transparency and review mechanisms, which can result in reputational damage and international pressure for non-compliance. These mechanisms include the NDC Synthesis Report, which identifies progress made globally against Parties’ Nationally Determined Contributions; the Enhanced Transparency Framework, which requires Parties to report transparently on action taken and progress made; and the Global Stocktake, which requires Parties to periodically take stock of the implementation of their mitigation commitments. Additionally, Parties must provide information necessary to track progress in implementing and achieving their NDCs and participate in the facilitative multilateral consideration of progress, which involves a technical expert review. The Paris Agreement also has a mechanism to facilitate the implementation of and promote compliance with the Agreement. This is supported by an expert Committee which is non-adversarial and non-punitive.