CAN-UK welcomes the publication of today’s advice from the Climate Change Committee (CCC) to the UK Government on the level of the country’s 2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), and calls on the Government to announce a more ambitious 2035 NDC at COP29 that represents more of the UK’s fair share of the action needed to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C.
Catherine Pettengell, Executive Director of CAN-UK said in response to today’s published advice:
“Fairness should be at the heart of the UK NDC. In the context of the climate emergency, where those least responsible are bearing the highest costs and suffering the worst impacts, the CCC’s advice should be the floor, not the ceiling, of the UK’s ambition and action. We urge the Government to be a climate leader and set the NDC higher to do more of the UK’s fair share. This move is critical if we are to keep 1.5°C alive and build momentum for greater action by all countries, especially in the run up to COP29.
The CCC today has told us that 81% by 2035 is entirely possible. A more ambitious and fair target could be achieved if the UK brings its full economic and political will to the table. Expectations can be exceeded by setting a course now to become a climate leader.”
The independent advice the Government receives from the Climate Change Committee is important for setting minimum standards in the NDC.
Ambition
The CCC’s advice is robust and well respected, and the target of 81% has been set based on a “deliverable” pathway. But climate leadership demands higher ambition and the climate emergency demands greater urgency. We urge this government to go further and faster to keep 1.5°C alive.
Fairness
As the fifth largest historical emitter and sixth largest economy, the UK has a greater responsibility than most to go further and faster to address the climate emergency. The CCC’s advice notes that “illustrative equity-based approaches suggest ambition in the range of a 71% to 109% reduction”, with some reports indicating the UK’s fair share to be even greater than this. With the impacts of climate change falling disproportionately on those least responsible and those with the least, it is a basic matter of fairness that the UK must do more.
Domestic Action
The CCC sets out clearly that the NDC target should be delivered entirely domestically and must be backed up by rapid but achievable action. We call on the government to ensure the NDC target it adopts will be delivered entirely territorially, but that this domestic action must be complemented by the UK making a greater global contribution as well through its climate finance and technological support to the Global South.
Benefits to UK economy and households
The CCC advice importantly recognises the role of ambitious domestic action in boosting investment and supporting new jobs across the country, as well as reducing the UK’s dependence on volatile fossil fuel markets – stating clearly that rapid reductions in fossil fuel dependence are the best way to enhance UK energy security.
Reducing emissions from aviation and shipping
While the CCC recommends excluding international aviation and shipping (IAS) from the UK NDC target (as was the case in the 2030 UK NDC) we strongly agree that the IAS emissions in the Sixth Carbon Budget and Net Zero 2050 target must be included in the NDC technical annex to maintain ambition and focus on the necessary reductions in IAS emissions. We agree that much stronger international action is urgently needed to address IAS emissions, and that the UK is well-positioned to lead the drive for IAS decarbonisation and encourage other countries to include it in their NDC technical annexes and reporting as well.
Action to complement the NDC
We strongly support the CCC’s recommendation to ensure the NDC is complemented by commitments across all pillars of the Paris Agreement, and their highlighting of climate finance, adaptation, nature, and international initiatives. COP29 next month must agree a new global climate finance goal, and we call on the UK government to champion an ambitious climate finance goal that centres the needs of developing countries and provides a transparent and concrete core of public finance provided by developed countries, with clear subgoals for mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage. We urge the Government to urgently improve the UK’s climate finance commitments, by reversing the last government’s cut to Official Development Assistance (ODA) and changes to UK International Climate Finance (ICF) accounting rules that in effect cut the UK’s commitment by £1.6bn.
We warmly welcome the CCC’s call for a plan for how the NDC’s delivery will be aligned with the UK’s nature goals, both international and domestic, and fully integrated with the forthcoming National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. The science is clear, the climate emergency and biodiversity emergency must be tackled together so this will be an important step.
We know from CCC reports that adaptation in the UK must be strengthened and therefore we welcome the call for clear objectives and measurable targets to make adaptation a priority across all UK Government departments. We also call for increased provision of grant finance for communities overseas on the frontline of the climate emergency.
