UK Nationally Determined Contribution to the Paris Agreement
Friday 12 Feb 2021
The UK submitted an updated NDC in December and committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 68% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. This equates to per capita emissions falling from around 14 tCO2e/person in 1990 to 4 tCO2e/person in 2030. This is more ambitious than the UK’s previous contribution, which was a 53% reduction in emissions by 2030. The IPCC estimates that global net emissions will need to decrease by around 45% by 2030, compared to 2010 levels, to be consistent with a 1.5°C pathway.
What does the UK target include and exclude?
- The target includes all major greenhouse gases, not just carbon dioxide, emitted and removed within Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
- It currently excludes emissions and removals from the UK’s Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories.
- It excludes emissions from international aviation and shipping; these emissions are reported as a memo item in the UK’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory.
- It excludes emissions released during the production of goods imported to the UK. Such ‘consumption emissions’ constitute around 43% of the UK’s total emissions, and have increased three-fold 1990-2016.
Read the NDC here, a critique from ODI here, and a commentary of NDC progress from CarbonBrief here. The UK also published an Adaptation Communication and a Finance Biennial Communication.
