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The UK claims to be a world leader in fighting climate change. It’s wrong

At home, the UK outsources its responsibility to decarbonise, and abroad it fails its historic responsibility to mitigate carbon emissions

By Harpreet Kaur Paul
The UK claims to be a world leader in fighting climate change. It’s wrong
People ride rickshaws through a flooded street in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in April 2018 | Rehman Asad/Alamy Stock Photo
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British politicians have long touted the UK’s climate leadership on the world stage. The official story is certainly impressive: between 1990 and 2016 the UK cut greenhouse gas emissions by 41% – more than any other country in the G7. The UK was also the first country in the world to set statutory carbon emissions reduction targets in the Climate Change Act 2008, and the first major economy to pass net-zero emissions law in 2019.

Just this week the UK government adopted what it described as “the world’s most ambitious climate change target” when it passed its sixth Carbon Budget into law.

As the UK prepares to host COP26, the image of the UK as a climate leader will be projected around the world. But does the reality really live up to the hype?

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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0