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Each year, the —the UK's independent advisory body tasked with monitoring the country's movement toward its legally binding climate goals—gives a report on the government's progress over the last year.

The Climate Change Committee's new 2025 is a mix of good and bad news about whether the UK is on track to meet its greenhouse gas emissions targets. These include a 68% reduction by 2030 and an 81% reduction by 2035, .

Meeting these targets requires long lead times. It takes years to develop and deploy low-carbon technologies, change social practices and align industrial and economic policy with net zero ambitions. The Climate Change Committee's analysis goes beyond simply measuring emissions—it also evaluates whether the right policies are in place across sectors such as transport, buildings, energy and industry.

So how is the UK doing? Between 1990 and 2024, the UK , primarily by decarbonizing the power sector, improving energy efficiency and shifts in the UK's industrial base. This equates to an average annual reduction of 0.7%.

Since the committee was , the rate of reduction has more than doubled. In the last decade, since the , the UK has decarbonized at around 3.4% per year. To meet the 2030 and 2035 targets, the pace of reduction has to continue at this level, but from a wider set of sectors.

However, the analysis in the CCC report suggests that even this may not be fast enough. A recently warned the world has just three years left in its global carbon budget if we are to stay within the 1.5°C temperature limit agreed in the Paris agreement.

A mixed picture

We are both involved with the committee and its work. Piers Forster, a climate scientist, has served on the committee since 2018 and is currently its chair. John Barrett provides key data on imported emissions and regularly provides analysis into the committee's work.

On the positive side, the UK continues to expand renewable energy capacity, which not only cuts emissions but lowers energy bills and improves energy security. Emissions from the energy supply sector .

A fifth of new vehicles . For the first time, that electric cars are causing transport emissions to decline, even as people are traveling more. Tree planting by 56% last year, mainly in Scotland.

However, this report highlights serious gaps. With only five years left until 2030, the Climate Change Committee estimates that are not adequately backed by government policy.

Growing demand in high-carbon sectors like aviation is offsetting gains made in electricity generation. Aviation emissions are now scarily larger than those from electricity generation and rising fast.

Although last year, emissions from buildings are still rising. In road transport, while electric vehicle adoption is growing, there's been little shift towards shared public transport options such as buses and trains. In industry, policies around resource efficiency and consumption remain underdeveloped.

Critically, the electricity currently accounts for just 18% of the UK's total energy demand, and suggests that 80% of required emissions reductions must come from sectors beyond energy supply. The rates of decarbonization need to more than double in these other sectors.

Yet, policy to reduce overall energy demand remains weak. This is a broader agenda than reducing household energy bills but a more fundamental appreciation of how the UK's energy demand can be shaped in the future.

The UK cannot rely on technology alone. The climate transition can benefit from changes in how we live, move, consume and produce. Making such changes would make us less dependent on fossil fuel imports, put more money in our pockets from efficiency savings and make us healthier by improving air quality, increasing exercise levels through more active travel such as walking and cycling, and making our homes more comfortable in both hot and cold conditions.

A truly credible response to the climate crisis demands . That means aligning climate goals with economic and social policy, and recognizing the broader benefits—from improved health to reduced inequality—that come with reducing energy demand.

The window to act is closing. The UK has made progress, but without more ambitious and integrated action, it risks falling short when it matters most.

According to the Climate Change Committee report, the UK can deliver both its legislated targets and its internationally-committed emission reduction targets if it takes decisive policy action. And with the right political will that's possible in a cost-effective way that improves the lives of its citizens.

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