The UK’s plans and progress to reach net zero by 2050

The UK is committed to reaching net zero by 2050. This means that the total greenhouse gas emissions would be equal to the emissions removed from the atmosphere, with the aim of limiting global warming and resultant climate change.

The UK Government has adopted a suite of policies in order to reach net zero, set out in two strategy publications: the Net Zero Strategy (2021) and Powering Up Britain: The Net Zero Growth Plan (2023).

This briefing provides an overview of the context for the net zero target, important UK net zero policies since 2020, and progress towards this goal. It covers how some key sectors are implementing net zero policies and includes stakeholder commentary on progress.

Net zero targets

All of the UK must meet net zero by 2050, in line with the target set out in legislation. In addition to the UK-wide target, Scotland has set its own and is aiming to become a net zero economy by 2045.

The UK has also committed to a 68% reduction in emissions by 2030, as part of its Nationally Determined Contribution towards the Paris Agreement (see Section 1.3 for more detail).

Alongside these headline targets, the UK has set interim ‘carbon budgets’ which cap the emissions within different carbon budgetary periods (see Section 1.2 for more detail). The current fourth carbon budget requires a 52% reduction in emissions by 2027, while the sixth carbon budget requires a 78% reduction by 2037 (see Section 1.2 for more detail).

Between November 2024 and February 2025, the government needs to set a new Nationally Determined Contribution for 2035. Additionally, in 2025 the government is due to agree the seventh carbon budget, which will cover the period from 2038-2042.

Policy developments in 2024

In 2024, the Labour government announced several new bills that are relevant to net zero. These included:

• Great British Energy Bill (to set up a publicly owned clean power company to accelerate investment in renewable energy)
• Crown Estate Bill (to remove restrictions and allow for easier investment in public infrastructure
• Sustainable Aviation Fuel (Revenue Support Mechanism) Bill (to support the production of this fuel).

The government also announced it would pursue other policies that affect climate change mitigation and adaptation, including policies on home insulation, nature and biodiversity, land management, and the water sector.

Policy developments in 2023

The 2021 Net Zero Strategy set out a series of policies and commitments designed to enable the UK to reach net zero by 2050. It includes measures to deliver emissions reductions to meet targets up to the sixth carbon budget (which covers the period between 2033 and 2037).

The 2023 Net Zero Growth Plan set out an update to the existing strategies, focusing on the scale-up and deployment of technologies for decarbonising homes, power, industry and transport. This update also fulfilled the 2022 High Court judgment for the government to set out more detail on how it aims to reach net zero. 

In September 2023, Rishi Sunak (then Prime Minister) gave a speech on net zero, which updated policy positions and set out a revised approach to reaching net zero with the intention “to ease the burdens on working people”. 

Assessment of progress

These strategies and policies have been subject to scrutiny from parliamentary committees, independent third-party reviews and the media. The Climate Change Committee, the government’s statutory adviser for climate change, undertakes an annual assessment of policies that contribute to the net zero by 2050 target, which it submits to Parliament.

The committee’s 2024 Progress Report said that the new government “will have to act fast to hit the country’s commitments”. It notes that low-carbon technologies are becoming cheaper, although uptake remains low, and there is an increasing need to focus on how the UK adapts to climate changes that have already happened.

It set out 10 priority actions for the next year, with a focus on:

• making electricity cheaper
• reversing the policy rollbacks of the previous government
• accelerating decarbonisation
• strengthening adaptation

The CCC recognises the contribution that decarbonising the energy sector has made to emissions reductions to date, and set an expectation that 75% of future emissions reductions will have to come from other sectors, such as transport, buildings and land use.