Government publishes new climate plan

• New plan follows successful legal challenges by Friends of the Earth and ClientEarth
• Friends of the Earth spokespeople available for interview

Reacting to the government’s Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan – its new strategy for meeting the UK’s legally-binding climate targets – Friends of the Earth’s chief executive, Asad Rehman, said:

"With extreme weather events increasingly battering the planet - just as we're seeing in Jamaica and Cuba right now - and hitting those who've done least to cause the crisis hardest, here and overseas, strong climate action has never been more urgent.

“There are some encouraging signs that, at long last, we have a government ready to step up and get the UK’s climate targets back on track. But we won’t know for sure until we have studied the full detail of the plan.

“Crucially, the government has signalled that it recognises that meaningful climate action isn’t just a legal duty – it’s a massive social and economic opportunity too. Done right, it can deliver cheaper bills, warmer homes and thousands of good green jobs. This would help tackle the deep inequality felt across the country and build a fairer, more prosperous future.

“The last two climate plans were ruled unlawful after legal action by Friends of the Earth, ClientEarth and Good Law Project. Let’s hope this time they’ve got it right."

Friends of the Earth will issue a further statement once it has studied the full detail of the plan.

ENDS

Notes

1. Friends of the Earth will carefully study the details of the new plan to see if it meets the legal requirements of the Climate Change Act. The organisation, alongside others, successfully took governments led by Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak to court over the two previous climate plans, and will consider a third legal challenge if the new plan falls significantly short again.
2. The High Court ruled in May last year that the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan [CBDP] - introduced in 2023 by Rishi Sunak’s government - failed to comply with its obligations under the Climate Change Act and ordered that a new plan be published.
3. Friends of the Earth, ClientEarth and Good Law Project all successfully challenged the Government’s Net Zero Strategy in 2022. The three NGOs then brought further legal challenges against the replacement decarbonisation plan, the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan. In May 2024, Friends of the Earth and ClientEarth’s challenges to the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan were upheld; Good Law Project’s did not succeed. The Government’s new climate plan released today was prepared to comply with the High Court order in the cases brought by Friends of the Earth and ClientEarth.
4. The new climate action plan will set out government policies for enabling UK Carbon Budgets 4-6 to be met – the period up until 2037 – and cover all sectors of the economy
5. The government's climate plan can be read on their website.