The release of the United Kingdom’s fifth carbon budget, required by the nation’s 2008 Climate Change Act by the end of June, has not gotten lost in the shuffle of the “Brexit,” Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Amber Rudd said Wednesday. The carbon budget will be released Thursday, the last day allowed.
“It is an important building block of our economy’s future and you would expect us to take our time to ensure we got the decision right. And however we choose to leave the EU, let me be clear: we remain committed to dealing with climate change. The Act was not imposed on us by the EU,” Rudd said at the Business and Climate Summit in London.
The Climate Change Act required that the government set five-year legally binding carbon budgets, limits on the amount of greenhouse gases that can be emitted by the U.K. The first four carbon budgets have already been entered into legislation and cover emissions through 2027. The first four carbon budgets requires emission reductions of 23 percent, 29 percent, 35 percent, and the last called for 50 percent.
Rudd also addressed the U.K.’s role in the Paris climate change agreement. The accord is built around intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs), domestically determined pledges of action to battle rising temperatures. As a member of the European Union, the U.K. was included in the mass INDC submitted by the 28-member body and will now need to develop and submit its own INDC.
The U.K. has not yet begun the legal process required to leave the EU, but once they do, they will remain a member for two years before officially exiting.
“Our relationships with the United States, China, India, Japan and other European countries will stand us in strong stead as we deliver on the promises made in Paris. At the heart of that commitment is the Climate Change Act,” Rudd said. “So while I think the U.K.’s role in dealing with a warming planet may have been made harder by the decision last Thursday, our commitment to dealing with it has not gone away.”
