Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the UK's progress towards meeting its 2020 targets established under the Climate Change Act 2008.

The Climate Change Act 2008 requires that the carbon budget period including the year 2020 must be such that the annual equivalent of the carbon budget is at least 34% lower than the 1990 baseline. The third carbon budget covers the 2020 target and it was set at a level needed to meet this requirement.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change publishes emissions projections each Autumn. Last year’s report confirmed that the UK has met the first carbon budget and is on track to achieve the second and third carbon budgets, based on the projected impact of already announced and funded policies.