The British government has set a new target of 87% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from 1990 levels for the 2038–2042 period (UK Government announcement, 02/06/2026). The new target proposed for the country’s seventh Carbon Budget would limit GHG emissions for the 2038 to 2042 period of 535 MtCO2eq.
The UK’s Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan which sets out policies and proposals for decarbonising all sectors of the economy to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The previous Carbon Budget had set the goal to fully decarbonise its power mix and reduce its GHG emissions by 81% (from 1990 levels). This new GHG emissions reduction target aims to answer to rising global temperatures as well as this year’s rise in energy prices as a result of supply disruptions in the Middle East and the fossil fuel price increase since the Russian-Ukrainian war.
According to the announcement, the new target is based on "evidence-based assumptions about how the country will take a consumer choice-led approach to the adoption of renewable technologies" (solar, BESS, EVs, etc.). The target is consistent to the Paris Agreement aim to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees and it is expected to maximise the benefits of the clean energy and net zero transition.
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