Government announces proposals for the fourth carbon budget

Friday 10th June 2011

On 17 May 2011 the Government announced its proposals for the fourth carbon budget, to help the UK remain on course to meet its target for the reduction of its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% from 1990 levels.  They aim to achieve this by 2050.

This target, imposed by the Climate Change Act 2008 ("Act"), requires the Government to impose limits on the UK's greenhouse gas emissions for every period of five years, known as a "carbon budget".  The Act requires the fourth carbon budget to be set by the end of June 2011.  The UK is the first country in the world to set legally binding carbon emissions targets
past 2020.

The proposals for the fourth carbon budget follow the advice of the Committee on Climate Change and are set out in the table below alongside the first three carbon budgets:

 

	Budget 1   (2008 - 2012)	Budget 2   (2013 - 2017)	Budget 3   (2018 - 2022)	Proposals for Budget 4 (2023 - 2027)
Budget level (MtCO2e)	3,018	2,782	2,544	1,950
% reduction from 1990 levels	23%	29%	35%	50%

The Government intends that, under the fourth carbon budget, emissions will be reduced domestically as far as possible, although carbon trading will not be ruled out if this is necessary to minimise costs in the medium-long term.  The medium-long term policies and proposals required to meet the fourth carbon budget will be set out in the revised government carbon plan, to be published in October this year.

Further plans
Before the end of 2011 the Government also intends to announce measures to minimise the cost of the low-carbon transition for energy-intensive industries whose international competitiveness is most affected by it.  The Government has also announced that in early 2014 it will review the UK's progress towards the EU target for emissions from the UK's industrial and power sectors, and will revise the domestic budget if necessary.

  Ashfords LLP is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The information in this note is intended to be general information about English law only and not comprehensive. It is not to be relied on as legal advice or as an alternative to taking professional advice relating to specific circumstances.