‘Embarrassing but welcome’: Green lawyers triumph as UK admits its net zero strategy is unlawful

The UK government has conceded that its plan to cut carbon emissions is inadequate, and must now come up with a better one.

Last week, business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg quietly dropped plans to appeal against a High Court ruling from July that found the government’s net zero strategy was unlawful.

It has cemented the victory of environmental lawyers from ClientEarth, Friends of the Earth and the Good Law Project, who are calling the decision “an embarrassing but welcome climbdown”.

The trio of NGOs successfully argued that the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) failed to show how its policies will curb emissions enough to meet legally-binding targets next decade.

“This decision is a breakthrough moment in the fight against climate delay and inaction,” ClientEarth lawyer Sam Hunter-Jones said of the ruling.

“It forces the government to put in place climate plans that will actually address the crisis. It’s also an opportunity to move further and faster away from the expensive fossil fuels that are adding to the crippling cost of living crisis people are facing.”

Here’s what you need to know about the landmark case, and where it takes us.

The UK government released its strategy to reach net zero by 2050 in October last year. By the deadline, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions the country releases should not exceed the amount it is removing from the atmosphere.

‘Carbon budgets’ are key markers on this journey - set limits on the volume of greenhouse gases the country can emit over five year periods and still hit its target. These are legally binding under the national Climate Change Act of 2008, but the government could not demonstrate that it would meet the sixth carbon budget for the 2033-37