UK halfway to reaching net zero after Covid-19 spurs record emissions cuts

Cecilia Keating
clock • 3 min read

After reducing its emissions by 51 per cent over the last 30 years, the UK has another 30 to make the same reductions again and hit net zero, Carbon Brief reveals

Greenhouse gas emissions in the UK in 2020 fell to half the levels recorded in 1990 in the wake of the pandemic, meaning the nation is technically halfway to meeting its target of reaching net zero emissions...

To continue reading this article...

Join BusinessGreen

In just a few clicks you can start your free BusinessGreen Lite membership for 12 months, providing you access to:

  • Three complimentary articles per month covering the latest real-time news, analysis, and opinion from Europe’s leading source of information on the Green economy and business
  • Receive important and breaking news stories via our daily news alert
  • Our weekly newsletter with the best of the week’s green business news and analysis

Join now

 

Already a BusinessGreen member?

Login

More on Policy

EA warns England's low carbon industrial clusters face growing physical climate risks

EA warns England's low carbon industrial clusters face growing physical climate risks

Environment Agency calls for permitting and planning tweaks to help government, developers and councils better prepare for new low carbon heavy industry for climate shocks

Michael Holder
clock 30 July 2025 • 3 min read
Carbon pricing without bite? New evidence on industry compensation raises red flags

Carbon pricing without bite? New evidence on industry compensation raises red flags

Carbon pricing is a powerful tool, but only if it delivers the intended signal, writes Misato Sato from LSE's Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment

Misato Sato, Grantham Institute on Climate Change and the Environment
clock 30 July 2025 • 4 min read
Biodiversity Net Gain: Could prioritising offsite projects deliver better outcomes for nature and development?

Biodiversity Net Gain: Could prioritising offsite projects deliver better outcomes for nature and development?

New research unearths potential cost savings and nature recovery benefits from increasing role of off-site Biodiversity Net Gain projects

Stuart Stone
clock 29 July 2025 • 7 min read