Responding to TheresaMay's announcement in New York that the UK will join the international Carbon Neutrality Coalition, Christian Aid applauded the move and urged the UK to take the lead by enshrining a net zero carbon target in law as soon as possible.
Tom Viita, Head of UK Advocacy at Christian Aid, said: “The Prime Minister’s pledge to join the Carbon Neutrality Coalition comes hot on the heels of the Labour party’s promise to take the UK to a net zero greenhouse gas economy.
"This shows there is a powerful cross party consensus which clears the path for the UK to set this target into law. Ten years on from the world-leading Climate Change Act, this would put the UK once again at the forefront of climate ambition.”
The Carbon Neutrality Coalition was formed at the One Planet Summit in France in 2017 and commits countries to produce long term emission reduction strategies in line with the Paris goals by 2020 at the latest and recognises that this will "reap benefits of the transition to net zero greenhouse gas emissions." Current members include France, Germany, Norway, New Zealand, Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, and Mexico. Spain has also announced it is joining.
The UK Government has already announced its intention to set a net zero target into law and its intention to request the independent advisor, the Committee on Climate Change, for advice on the target date. It has not yet commissioned this advice.
This announcement follows on from a cross-party letter signed by more than 130 MPs of all parties, led by Simon Clarke. Sent to the Prime Minister on 17 September 2018, the letter called for the UK to set a target to reach net zero emissions before 2050.
* Read the cross-party letter here
* Christian Aid https://www.christianaid.org.uk
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