UK government threatened with legal action after weakening net zero policy 

September 29th, 2023

The Good Law Project (GLP) has threatened to legally challenge the UK government over backsliding on net zero policies.

The organisation’s warning follows the announcement from prime minister Rishi Sunak that implementation of some net zero policies would be delayed.

The government plans to delay the ban on the sales of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035 and scrap obligations for minimum energy efficiency levels in private rented accommodation.

GLP has written to Net Zero secretary Claire Coutinho to demand answers on how the government will meet its carbon-cutting targets while weakening policies.

It highlights that the government has committed to ensuring the net UK carbon account does not exceed 965 metric tons of CO2e – carbon dioxide emissions with the same global warming potential as one metric ton of another greenhouse gas – between 2033 and 2037.

GLP has also asked the government to disclose any analysis demonstrating that the new weakened policies are sufficient to meet the carbon budgets.

It requested that the government disclose any documents evidencing whether and, if so, how the advice of the Climate Change Committee (CCC) was taken into account before announcing the changes.

The CCC recommended the government stay firm on existing commitments, particularly around heat pumps and electric vehicles.

Last year, GLP successfully forced the government to rewrite its original net zero strategy in the High Court.

Alongside Friends of the Earth and ClientEarth, it is currently taking the government to court to ensure it tackles the climate crisis.

Its latest warning will either be a continuation of this challenge or a new legal proceeding against the government.

GLP plans to use the information in the requested disclosures to decide whether to amend its pleadings in its existing proceedings or draft pre-action correspondence in fresh proceedings.

It also urged the government to go one step further and publicly publish the information requested, in line with the prime minister’s plans to be open and transparent with the British public.