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January 30, 2025

UK’s NDC: a significant step forward

Image shows text "United Kingdom" in orange and "A SIGNIFICANT STEP FORWARD" in white on dark background, with header "NDC CLIMATE GOALS: DEMAND CLIMATE AMBITION!" discussing UK climate policy progress.

Today, the UK Government announced their five-year UN mandated climate action plan (nationally determined contribution) reaffirming the commitment of cutting emissions by 81% by 2035 – a pledge made by Prime Minister Keir Starmer during the UN climate negotiations in Azerbaijan (COP29) last year.

“An ambitious climate target on paper is a useful signal to the rest of the world of the kind of ambition that is needed to tackle climate change and bring down energy bills due to high gas prices. More can be done, but this is indeed a significant step forward. Yet the climate goal explicitly excludes emissions from aviation which is a convenient miss given the government’s irresponsible plans for a third runway in Heathrow.”

Matilda Borgström, UK campaigner