Government suffers setback as judge rules net zero plans are ‘unlawful’
Ministers will have to go back to the drawing board and spell out their plan for reaching net zero carbon emissions, after a judge determined the current strategy for reaching the country’s climate goals was unlawful.
The High Court judge, Justice David Holgate, decided that Downing Street’s current plans lacked sufficient detail concerning how the target would be met.
This was a breach of the government’s obligations under the Climate Change Act, the judge said, which compels the Government to reach net zero carbon emissions over the next three decades.
He concluded that a detailed explanation of how Government policies would achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 was important for holding ministers to account and for “transparency.”
He ordered ministers to publish an updated strategy by the end of March 2023.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, launched the Government’s net zero strategy last year.
However, the judge ruled that Kwarteng did not know each individual policy would contribute to achieving the legally binding target, and therefore could not properly assess the credibility of the plan.
The government had argued that it did not need to provide a quantification of the effects of its individual policies.
The verdict follows a sustained challenge from campaign groups including Friends of the Earth, the Good Law Project and environmental campaigner Jo Wheatley.
They had highlighted that, taking the policies together, the net zero strategy would only achieve 95 per cent of the required emissions reductions, leaving a 5 per cent shortfall.
Friends of the Earth’s lawyer, Katie de Kauwe, said: “We’re proud to have worked on this historic case. Taking strong action to cut carbon emissions is a win-win. Not only is it essential to preventing climate breakdown, but we can also tackle the cost of living crisis with cheap, renewable energy.”
A BEIS spokesperson told City A.M. : “The Net Zero Strategy remains government policy and has not been quashed. The judge made no criticism about the substance of our plans which are well on track and, in fact, the claimants themselves described them as ‘laudable’ during the proceedings.”
The ruling came as the UK and large swaths of Europe endured scorching record temperatures, with Heathrow recording temperatures of 40.2C earlier today – breaking the 40C threshold for the first time ever.