Amid global chaos, the UK has a crucial role to play in climate leadership
As the global landscape continues to be devastated and scarred by the impact of climate change, the global political landscape has also changed drastically over the last couple of months.
As expected, the start of President Trump’s second term has seen the planned US withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement and the declaration of a ‘national energy emergency’ resulting in a promise to ‘Drill, baby, drill’. It is also not clear what impact the cut in international aid will have on supporting developing nations to reduce carbon emissions.
Those of us who have been passionately treading the path to net zero know that the journey has rarely been smooth, and this is the latest of many obstacles and detractors we have met en route.
Despite these setbacks, there is still reason to be positive. I believe global economics favourable to renewables will drive the agenda moving forward. The cost of renewables has plummeted beyond expectations from even a decade ago and the cost of new EVs are rapidly moving in the same direction. Global investment in renewables in 2024 reached $2 trillion, against $1 trillion in fossil fuels. The genie is out of the bottle.
There is also the opportunity for the UK to step up and show international leadership in tackling climate change and keeping us on track for achieving net zero by 2050.
I asked the Government in the House of Lords recently what steps they are taking to promote action against climate change internationally following reports that 2024 was the warmest year on record globally.
It was encouraging to hear in their response that they remain committed to driving forward action on climate change, pointing to its announcement at COP29, held in Baku in 2024, of an ambitious target to reduce emissions by at least 81% by 2035, and its urging of other countries to be as ambitious.
One area where the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee, which I Chair, has identified as an opportunity for the UK to be a global leader is through cutting methane emissions.
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, eighty times more potent than carbon dioxide over a twenty-year period. Moreover, it has been responsible for a full third of climate warming since the start of the industrial revolution. It also affects air quality because it can lead to ground level ozone, a dangerous air pollutant. Many scientists have highlighted action on methane now can have significant near-term effects and give us valuable time to cut carbon dioxide emissions.
At COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, the UK was a key supporter of the initiative by the EU and the US to realise the Global Methane Pledge, “to keep a 1.5˚C future within reach” and agreeing to take voluntary actions to reduce global methane emissions by 30 percent compared to 2020 levels, by 2030.
The evidence is clear that the UK has been one of the most successful nations in reducing its methane emissions—by 62 per cent between 1990 and 2020. Much of the significant reduction preceded the adoption of the Pledge principally through a series of legislative initiatives addressing methane from waste, oil and gas extraction, and as a byproduct of the end of UK coal mining and coal power generation. Nonetheless, the UK is in a good position to not only be the global lead on the more challenging emissions that remain, given its historic strengths and domestic scientific expertise in monitoring and verification, but also has the capacity to lean in on international efforts as other countries strive to catch up. However, there is still work to do.
In the committee’s report; ‘Methane: keep up the momentum’ we raised concerns that the progress in the UK has slowed, even as global methane concentrations continue to rise. We therefore called on the Government to produce a methane action plan, setting out how it aims to meet its global commitment to reduce anthropogenic methane emissions, caused predominately by energy (oil and gas), agriculture and waste management.
Disappointingly, in their recent response to our report, the Government doesn’t believe a methane action plan is needed, as it is already covered in its existing delivery Plan for Carbon Budgets that will contribute towards the Global Methane Pledge.
Whilst this is a missed opportunity to demonstrate the UK’s ongoing commitment to the rest of the world, it is heartening to see that the Government has stepped up to co-chair, with Brazil, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, the UNEP body that acts as secretariat to the Global Methane Pledge.
I am hopeful that the Government has the ambition and willingness to demonstrate strong global leadership and drive us towards 2050.
Baroness Sheehan is a British politician and life peer. She became chair of the Environment and Climate Change Committee in January 2024.
