In 2008, parliament passed the Climate Change Act, the world’s first law to set legally binding targets for cutting climate emissions. This win followed years of pioneering campaigning led by Friends of the Earth.
Subsequently, we made 2 successful legal challenges, which found that the last government’s plans to meet these targets were unlawful, because they failed to implement the Act. The most recent court victory in May 2024 means the government is legally obliged to write a new climate plan by May 2025.
But there’s a real risk this plan will fail to deliver the bold action urgently needed to protect people and planet. We have a crucial window of opportunity to influence the government, which is why we’re taking action with our Big Climate Plan campaign.
Why do we need a Big Climate Plan?
Our Big Climate Plan campaign calls on the government to create a future that benefits everyone through a package of policies designed to improve our lives by cutting emissions and transforming society. Supporting it isn’t just about saving the planet, it’s also about fairness and creating opportunities for everyone.
Recently, skyrocketing energy prices have increased fuel poverty, while oil and gas companies, posting record profits, have worsened emissions and deepened inequality.
The Big Climate Plan is our chance to change this. By meeting climate targets, we can create a fairer future. But we must act quickly.
It all starts with a plan
What do we want to see in a Big Climate Plan?
The Big Climate Plan campaign has 5 key policy demands of the UK government that focus on:
- Cutting emissions
- Funding for climate action
- Ensuring warm homes
- Delivering clean transport
- Creating green jobs.
These are achievable steps that we want to be developed with experts and people like you. We’ll use legal challenges and our local action group network to push for a government climate plan that improves our quality of living and offers a brighter future for us and future generations. We’ll demand a plan that meets targets and ensures fairness.
With a proven track record and your support, we can make the new climate plan as strong as possible.
Why fairness matters
Climate change is devastating people's lives all over the world. And it's marginalised communities, such as disabled people, people of colour, women and low-income households who are hardest hit.
For example, here in the UK, older people, young children and those with health conditions may struggle more with extreme temperatures. Similarly, poorer communities, such as UK coastal areas experiencing economic decline or low-income islands around the world like the Solomon Islands, have fewer financial resources to recover from flooding.
This is why we’re advocating for fairness in the government’s new climate plan.
Fairness in climate policy is about making sure it works for everyone. In practice, this means overturning existing inequalities and addressing the impacts of climate change and climate policy on 3 specific communities: future generations, people in low-income countries and people in poverty in the UK.
Fairness demands greater equality of access to transport, warm homes and decent livelihoods. It means the costs of the transition falling on the people and countries with the broadest shoulders.
Further reading
