CCXG Oct 2019 Long Term Strategies: The role of the UK Climate Change Act 2008 and the Committee on Climate Change - Tom Ripley

1. Long Term Strategies: The role of the UK
Climate Change Act 2008 and the
Committee on Climate Change.
Tony Ripley, Head of UNFCCC Ambition, UK Department for Business,
Energy and Industrial Strategy

2. UK Climate Change Act, 2008
• Contains:
• Target for 80 per cent reduction in GHG emissions on 1990 levels by 2050 (recently
amended to 100 per cent)
• 5 yearly carbon budgets
• Climate Change Committee to set out independent advice on the carbon budgets
and to review our plans and systems including through annual progress reports
• Requirement to carry out climate change risk assessments and publish adaptation
plans
• Requirement to set out a long term strategy
• Model has been copied by other countries such as Mexico, Sweden, France,
and New Zealand

3. UK Long Term Strategies
Published 2009
CBs 1-3
(2008-22)
Published 2011
CB 4
(2023-27)
Published 2017
CB 5
(2028-32)
Clean Growth Strategy
Submitted to the UNFCCC in April 2018.
The Clean Growth Strategy outlines in detail our
action up to 2032, in line with our Carbon Budgets,
and highlights possible pathways to our 2050
target:
1. The Electricity pathway
2. The Hydrogen pathway
3. The Emissions Removal pathway

4. About the Committee on Climate Change
https://youtu.be/brN2_YNAEK8

5. -80% -100%X

6. UK lessons for the UNFCCC…
• Setting a Long Term Strategy is incredibly useful in stimulating innovation and investment
and avoiding stranded assets
• The larger the markets for new technologies are, the cheaper the transition costs will be
• Knowing how far our efforts will contribute to stabilising the climate would be easier if
we knew what others’ plans were
• It’s important to be transparently held to account by independent experts over what we
plan to deliver
• Long term strategies set the pathway for short-term five yearly targets
• Strategies should be updated regularly to take account of the latest science, and the
costs and availability of different technology options
• Can’t just think about the 2050 time horizon – we need to know how and when we can
stabilise the climate
So what can we do to encourage more countries to set and submit strategies with clear goals for
peaking / net zero targets, and update them on a regular cycle to feed into the Global Stocktake?

7. Thank You!
tony.ripley@beis.gov.uk