NGOs sue UK government for lax net-zero climate plans

Already boasting three legal victories against the UK government over air pollution policies, ClientEarth has dismissed the whole breakdown as ‘pie-in-the-sky’ and ‘pushing risk onto future generations.’

Assessments of its ‘baseline’ projections suggest UK emissions will far exceed what has been accounted for in carbon budgets by 2035. Meanwhile, Friends of the Earth are less than satisfied with how the Heat and Buildings plan appears to ignore considerations for disabled people and the elderly.

‘Climate action must be based on reversing these inequalities by designing the transition with the most vulnerable in mind, said FoE lawyer Katie de Kauwe. ‘Not even considering the implications of the heat and building strategy on such groups is quite shocking.’

Breaking news: we’re taking the UK Government to court over its net zero strategy – a strategy that fails to properly tackle climate change and deliver carbon budgets critical to meeting net zero goals: https://t.co/hOW2sZKHGa

— ClientEarth (@ClientEarth) January 12, 2022

When you do some digging, it does appear as though there are a quite a few more oversights and that the whole thing reads a bit like marketing spiel.

Biting back, a government spokesperson said: ‘The net zero strategy sets out specific, detailed measures we will take to transition to a low carbon economy, including helping businesses and consumers to move to clean and more secure, home-grown power, supporting hundreds of thousands of well-paid jobs, and leveraging up to £90bn of private investment by 2030.’

Activists and NGOs remain concerned that policymakers are talking a good game with no real intentions or knowhow to back it up.

The doubts are understandable too, given we’ve just seen the poorly planned ‘green homes’ scheme fall flat on its face – a promise to better insulate 600,000 UK households – despite being Boris’ touted centrepiece for ‘build back greener.’

The high courts will now decide whether to grant full hearings for the cases. Given its many recent humblings, you can guarantee the government is hoping it doesn’t come to that.