What is the Climate Change Act?

What is the Climate Change Act? 

The Climate Change Act is the UK's flagship climate law. Passed in 2008, it created a legal framework for tackling climate change and requires successive governments to reduce the UK's greenhouse gas emissions. 

The Act originally committed the UK to reducing emissions by at least 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. In 2019, Parliament amended the legislation to require the UK to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. 

The Climate Change Act was the first law of its kind in the world, creating a long-term, legally binding framework for climate action. 

What does the Climate Change Act do? 

The Act requires the Government to set legally binding emissions reduction targets, known as carbon budgets, and to prepare policies and proposals for meeting them. 

It also established the Climate Change Committee (CCC), an independent expert body that advises the Government on emissions targets and reports to Parliament on progress in reducing emissions. 

Together, these measures are intended to provide long-term certainty, accountability and transparency in the UK's response to climate change. 

What are carbon budgets? 

The Act introduced carbon budgets, which place legally binding limits on the total amount of greenhouse gases the UK can emit over successive five-year periods. 

The UK was the first country in the world to establish a system of legally binding carbon budgets. 

Carbon budgets are designed to provide a cost-effective pathway towards achieving the UK's long-term climate targets, including the net zero target for 2050. 

The first six carbon budgets have now been set in law, covering the period from 2008 to 2037. View the UK's carbon budgets and budget periods. 

The Government is legally required to prepare policies and proposals capable of meeting these budgets and keeping the UK on track to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. 

What are carbon plans? 

The Climate Change Act requires the Government to set out how it intends to meet its carbon budgets and climate targets. 

Over time, these plans have taken different forms, including the Carbon Plan, the Net Zero Strategy and subsequent Carbon Budget Delivery Plans. 

These plans outline the policies and measures the Government intends to use to reduce emissions across sectors such as energy, transport, buildings, agriculture and industry. 

They play an important role in ensuring transparency and enabling Parliament, the Climate Change Committee and the public to scrutinise whether the Government is on track to meet its legal obligations. 

What does the Climate Change Committee do? 

The Climate Change Committee (CCC) is the UK's independent statutory adviser on climate change. 

The CCC advises the Government on setting carbon budgets and achieving the UK's climate targets. It also monitors progress and publishes annual assessments of whether the Government is on track to meet its legal obligations under the Climate Change Act. 

In addition, the Committee carries out independent analysis of climate science, economics and policy to support effective decision-making. 

Who is responsible for implementing the Climate Change Act? 

Responsibility for delivering the Climate Change Act sits across Government. 

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has lead responsibility for climate policy, working alongside other departments whose decisions affect emissions. 

This includes departments responsible for transport, housing, agriculture, industry and the wider economy. Because climate change affects many areas of public policy, delivery of the Act requires coordinated action across Government. 

What is the legal context? 

The Climate Change Act remains one of the most significant climate laws in the world, but it does not operate in isolation. 

The UK is also a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement, which commits countries to hold the increase in global average temperatures to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C. 

The Climate Change Act provides the domestic legal framework through which the UK seeks to meet its international climate commitments. 

The Act's legally binding targets, carbon budgets and accountability mechanisms help ensure that governments remain focused on delivering emissions reductions over the long term, regardless of political cycles.