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As Britain left the European Union on Friday and started to work to rewrite its relationship with the bloc and quickly strike new global trade deals, some fear Brexit may undercut a similarly demanding key pledge to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The Conservative government’s celebrations on finally reaching divorce day may be short-lived as it now faces the monumental task of simultaneously repositioning Britain’s global role and overseeing a massive green overhaul of the economy.
London cannot allow tricky trade and foreign policy negotiations to delay climate action if the 2050 net-zero target is to be met, said Mike Thompson, director of analysis at the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), which advises government.
“This is not about making a few tweaks at the edges of what we are doing,” he said on the shift required to meet the net-zero goal.
“We are talking about a fundamental overhaul of most of the systems that we use in everyday life. We have to start now if we are going to have a chance of meeting this target.” Britain was thrown into political turmoil by the 2016 referendum vote in favour of Brexit, leaving it with the complex task of dismantling years of European regulation and working out new deals to keep borders open and trade flowing.
In the midst of the messy divorce, former Prime Minister Theresa May announced the 2050 net-zero target, which was passed into law.
Climate experts say it will require vast changes across energy policy, transport, infrastructure, land use and diets.
But the country is not yet even on track to meet a lower target of cutting its emissions by 80 per cent by 2050, with the CCC warning the government cannot afford to let Brexit elbow out climate action or result in climate pledges being watered down.
“This is the parliament that has got to crack net-zero really — if we don’t break the back of it in this parliament, then we won’t be able to make it by 2050,” said Thompson.
Former top government scientist David King has described Brexit as an “enormous distraction” from meeting climate goals. It will also create gaps in environmental laws and regulations previously covered by Europe, with climate groups saying they are watching closely to ensure those are filled. Meanwhile, the European Commission has proposed a “Green Deal” that would make the bloc climate-neutral by 2050. Much hangs on how closely Britain remains aligned to Europe, said Ed Matthew from climate-change think-tank E3G, adding that a trade deal between the two would be “critical” in deciding the extent of collaboration on environmental
and climate issues. — Thomson Reuters Foundation
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