Daniel Villar
Something unusual happened to British people in Baku in November 2024 when asked where they were from. After years of being a little embarrassed by their country, for once, attendees of COP29 from the United Kingdom could feel some pride in answering that question. The UK that had just raised the bar for climate ambition by being the first to release an updated NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution – or, emissions target), to reduce emissions by an ambitious 81% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels. A week later, it became the first country to sign the ‘NDC Youth Clause’, committing to include young people in the design and implementation of climate policy, potentially a major win for climate justice.
When Keir Starmer announced the new pledge at COP29 in Baku, in doing so becoming the only G7 leader to make an appearance, he underscored the opportunity for investment in British business and workers, telling the conference hall that the UK could ‘lead the world in the economy of tomorrow’.
This potential leadership was evidenced when the Azerbaijani presidency recruited the UK and Brazil (who are the hosts of COP30 next year) to help break the impasse in negotiations after the first week. After the reluctant agreement of a $300 billion target for climate finance, developed countries faced harsh criticism for their lack of ambition and dereliction of duty in regards to climate finance. But Mukhtar Babayev, the COP29 President, highlighted that that lack of ambition was not universal, stating that the new British government has, ‘reassumed the country’s role in global climate leadership’.
Keir Starmer and Mukhtar Babayev are right, the UK does have the potential to be a global climate leader, and in fact has already made impressive progress in that direction. Earlier this year, the country that first pioneered electricity production from coal became the first in the G7 to entirely phase out coal power. It was made possible by the UK’s pioneering of the wind energy industry, which has enjoyed bipartisan support for more than 15 years.
In the next few years, wind energy production is projected to allow the United Kingdom to become a net-exporter of power for the first time since 1978. The Government’s ‘Clean Power 2030’ plan, whether or not it achieves its intended goal, is expected to further accelerate power sector decarbonisation, facilitating progress in other sectors and attracting investment in the energy intensive industries of the future.
Our potential does not stop there. The UK is still the world’s largest exporter of financial services, with connections to every corner of the global economy – we can pioneer the climate finance innovation that the world needs so urgently. We have two of the top 5 universities in the world, with all the research, expertise, and global soft power that that provides. Heathrow Airport is the world’s 4th busiest airport by passenger traffic, we have the potential to help drive decarbonisation in the aviation sector. The geological potential for carbon storage in the waters off of our island could allow us to spearhead the decarbonisation of the ‘hard-to-abate’ sectors.
Despite the opportunities and progress, we are still lagards in many ways. Our poorly insulated homes mean that we consume gas for domestic heating at twice the EU average; the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world, with only 13% forest cover compared to 31% worldwide; outside of London, our public transport and opportunities for active travel are expensive and unreliable. These long standing issues and lack of ambition are holding us back, reducing our quality of life and health, as well as releasing unnecessary emissions. There is a real opportunity to improve lives and fix our broken country, if we are ambitious on climate action.
Decarbonising the UK is an opportunity for progress, but it is also a responsibility. The UK is responsible for 4.4% of all historic emissions of carbon, more than India, a country with 20 times more people. A large chunk of our recent progress on reducing emissions can be attributed to offshoring of carbon intensive industries. As the climate crisis escalates , and the inevitable pain is felt in every region, the world will look to the current and historical polluters. Rather than becoming an international pariah, and falling further behind, the UK should seize this opportunity for economic and diplomatic leadership. It is a chance to write a new chapter in the national story, and to be on the right side of history, and it is a once in a generation to improve lives at home.
If you liked this piece, follow the link here to read Daniel Villar’s piece on modern environmental issues.
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