Judge orders government to redraft its net zero plan for second time

The government has been ordered to redraft its net zero plan for a second time, after a High Court judged ruled it not fit for purpose.

Environmental campaigners argued that former energy secretary Grant Shapps signed off the government’s Carbon Budget Delivery Plan without evidence it could be achieved and gave key policies the green light without even looking at the assessments of the risks surrounding them.

A High Court judge has upheld the campaigners’ claim and ruled that the government must now redraft the plan again, providing more details about how it intends to meet its legally-binding emissions targets.

In his judgement, Mr Justice Sheldon said: “It is not possible to ascertain from the materials presented to the Secretary of State which of the proposals and policies would not be delivered at all, or in full.”

It is the second time that the High Court has ordered the government to redraft its net zero strategy after previously doing so in 2022.

The Carbon Budget Delivery Plan sets out how the UK will meet its legally binding carbon budgets and its international pledge to cut emissions by over two-thirds by 2030.

The UK has a target to reduce its emissions by 78% by 2035 against 1990 levels. However the Committee on Climate Change has previously warned that the government’s plan would only deliver a fifth of the emissions cuts needed.

A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: “The UK can be hugely proud of its record on climate change. We do not believe a court case about process represents the best way of driving progress towards our shared goal of reaching net zero.”

The legal challenge was brought by environmental groups Friends of the Earth, ClientEarth and The Good Law Project.

Good Law Project’s legal director Emma Dearnaley said: “This welcome ruling shows that the law is our best – and often last – line of defence against a government that is failing to act as it must to address the climate emergency.

“We will continue to use it to push for accountability and greater ambition”.

Client Earth’s senior lawyer Sam Hunter Jones added: “The government cannot just cross its fingers and hope for unproven techno-fixes and uncertain policies to plug the huge gaps in its plans.

“No more pie in the sky – the government must now take real action.”

Ed Matthew, campaigns director at climate change think tank E3G described the court ruling as “humiliating embarrassment for the government”.

He added: “This is the second time their climate strategy has been found by the High Court to be too weak to meet the UK’s climate targets.

“It comes on the day of the local elections when they are losing council seats across the country. These are not unrelated events.

“A government that turns its back on ambitious action to protect its citizens from the greatest long term security threat we face and falls back in the economic race to build a clean tech economy, is not a government that people want to vote for. They are making themselves unelectable.”