Cop29, Keir Starmer's announcement:The UK will cut emissions by 81% by 2035

The UK government has chosen Cop29 in Baku to announce its next plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

• The UK government has brought forward its next emissions reduction plan.
• The expected cut by 2035 goes from 78 to 81 percent compared to 1990 levels.
• Labor Prime Minister Keir Starmer made the announcement at COP29 in Baku.

The British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, at its premiere Climate Conference of the Parties, announces a change of pace on the way to the reduction of the country's emissions.The United Kingdom undertakes to cut them by81 percent by 2035 compared to 1990 levels, and no more than 78 percent.

Why we need new emission reduction targets

The plans for reducing emissions of individual states (nationally determined contributions, ndc) are foreseen by theParis Agreement and they are essential to contain global warming.So far, however, they have been widely insufficient.Even if the current ones were all respected to the letter, the average global temperature would increase by 2.6 degrees centigrade.Much more than the "safety threshold" of 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial levels.

States will therefore have to present the new NDCs by the beginning of 2025, in view of COP30 to be held in Belem, Brazil.But Keir Starmer has decided to speed up times, making the announcement already during the second day of the Cop29 in progress a Baku, in Azerbaijan.“Don't get me wrong:the race is on for the clean energy jobs of the future, for the economy of tomorrow, and I don't want to stay in the middle of the pack.I want to gain the advantage,” he declared.

What does the UK's climate strategy include?

There climate strategy developed by the previous conservative executive, already at the center of a legal battle, is therefore destined to retire.The Labor government that emerged victorious in this summer's elections has decided to follow the instructions of Climate change committee (Ccc), an independent supervisory authority.The cut in net emissions expected for 2030 remains 68 percent, while the objective for 2035 goes from 78 to 81 percent;However, it should be specified that this new target excludes the aviation and international navigation sectors from its scope.This plan will be submitted to parliament by February.

Since taking office, the Labor executive has given the green light to various wind and solar energy projects and has promised to no longer issue licenses for research hydrocarbons in the North Sea.On 30 September the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station, the last remaining, stopped burning coal to switch to the production of green hydrogen.The Climate Change Committee has already made it clear how the production of clean energy can reach a certain point, because then the people's behaviors.Keir Starmer has so far been cautious on this issue, even in his speech at Cop29.However, it is plausible to introduce limits on the sale of car petrol and diesel or taxes on goods, including food, with the greatest impact.