The UK's Labour government, elected in July, has taken the country's climate policy in a new direction, restoring pledges the previous administration scrapped and seeking to funnel investment to renewables. The UN Cop 29 climate summit presents an opportunity for it to follow this up on an international stage.
Hosting Cop 26 in 2021 allowed the UK to burnish its climate leadership credentials, but subsequent changes in the Conservative government saw policy reversals. Labour sought to differentiate its position on climate during the election campaign — possibly noting an increase in support for the UK's Green and Liberal Democrat parties, both of which hold firm pro-environment stances.
Labour promised to issue no new oil, gas or coal licences — although it said it would not revoke existing permits — and is aiming for zero-emissions power by 2030. Energy minister Ed Miliband in his first week in office lifted the de facto ban on onshore wind, and set up a taskforce to speed the country's path to a decarbonised power grid. The UK has in recent weeks pulled in around £24bn ($31bn) of investment for renewables, including from utilities Orsted and Iberdrola, and announced "up to" £21.7bn in funding over 25 years for carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) — although it is unclear how the money will be deployed.
The government moved swiftly to raise the windfall tax on oil and gas profits, lifting it to an effective rate of 78pc and scrapping one of the investment allowances — although the decarbonisation investment allowance remains in place. And, spurred by a landmark ruling made by the UK's Supreme Court in June, the government pledged new environmental guidance for oil and gas fields by spring 2025. The judgment ruled that consent for an oil development was unlawful, as the Scope 3 emissions — those from burning the oil produced — were not considered. The government has in the meantime halted assessment of any environmental statements for oil and gas extraction, including those already being processed, until the new guidance is in place.
The Labour government has declined to defend in court decisions taken by various iterations of the Conservative administration, including the permission granted for a proposed coal mine in northwest England. The High Court quashed that planning permission in September.
International stage
Miliband has sought guidance from independent advisory the Climate Change Committee (CCC) on the country's new climate plan, known as a nationally determined contribution (NDC). The CCC assessed the previous government as off track to hit legally binding emissions-reduction targets. The UK has cut emissions by half since 1990 and is in line with all carbon budgets to date. But much of this progress was made from a baseline of a high rate of coal-fired power generation, all of which is now shut down. The next stage of the country's decarbonisation will be more fragmented and is likely to pose more of a challenge.
The UK has bucked the trend set by some European neighbours by shifting further left with Labour, although the new government has promoted fiscal caution. Climate finance will dominate the talks in Azerbaijan, and the UK has been clear it will continue to contribute.
Labour pledged in its manifesto to "return to the forefront of climate action", noting that the previous administration had "squandered [the UK's] climate leadership". Foreign minister David Lammy has embedded climate and nature issues into his foreign policy brief and the government has appointed special representatives for climate and nature. But Cop 29 will prove the first real test of the pledges made, with a global audience watching.
