Ahead of COP27 in Egypt, all nations committed at COP26 to submit enhanced emissions reduction commitments for 2030 – find out what this means for your business.
As we approach COP27, the UK submitted an updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) on the 23 September. This fulfilled the obligation under COP26’s Glasgow Climate Pact that all nations committed must submit enhanced emissions reduction commitments for 2030 (NDCs) ahead of COP27.
The UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) will assess the revised targets in a “global synthesis report” to be released shortly before COP27. The report will determine the new trajectory ahead of the summit by drawing on all the completed NDCs and examining how the actions (both achieved and planned) impact greenhouse gas emissions. This will be crucial to determine if reductions commitments will bring warming under 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.
What did the UK commit to?
The UK reaffirmed its commitment to reduce UK greenhouse gas emissions by at least 68% by 2030 (compared to 1990 levels) and strengthened the previous supporting information.
The NDC was updated in four main ways:
1 - Further clarifying that the UK’s target is Paris-aligned.
2 - Setting out an explanation of how net zero by 2050 in the UK will be delivered. This explanation included summarising policies and plans announced since December 2020, such as:
- The Net Zero Strategy that set out how the UK will deliver on the 2050 net zero goal – already submitted to the UNFCCC in October of last year for the UK’s Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy.
- Other notable policy publications including the Energy White Paper, North Sea Transition Deal, Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy, Transport Decarbonisation Plan, the Hydrogen Strategy, Heat and Buildings Strategy, and Energy Security Strategy.
- Specific measures taken since December 2020 to support decarbonisation of the UK economy, including investor roadmaps for hydrogen and carbon capture utilisation and storage; investment in nuclear; commitment to phase out coal; and an internal combustion engine phase ou
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