Aviation will be among the top sources of emissions in the 2040s, having been left out of previous budgets. PM will have to respond to Climate Change Committee’s recommendations on future emissions cuts with drastic changes in many sectors of economy Keir Starmer will face a key test of his claims to leadership on the climate early next year, when the UK’s statutory advisers issue their latest advice on future cuts to greenhouse gas emissions. The independent Climate Change Committee will set out recommendations on the UK’s seventh carbon budget on 26 February. At the core of the budget will be an overall cap on emissions for the years 2038 to 2042, needed to meet the legal obligation of reaching net zero emissions in 2050. While the scope of this budget will fall long outside the current parliament, policies to achieve the recommended cuts will be needed much sooner. By 2035, the UK should already have slashed emissions , relative to 1990 levels, by about 81%, according to the international pledge unveiled by Starmer at the Cop29 UN climate summit in November . The seventh carbon budget will need to go beyond that: by 2040, emissions should be about a quarter of what they are today. Ed Matthew, campaigns director at the E3G thinktank, said: “The seventh carbon budget should not be met with fear. It is the opportunity to put the finishing touches to a project to rewire the UK economy, to make it globally competitive and help nature to flourish. The only question is whether our leaders have the courage to be ambitious and stand up to the vested interests standing in our way.” Sir Keir Starmer and Ed Miliband at Cop28 in Dubai in December 2023. That will require not just the decarbonisation of the power […]