Climate change: UK to change emissions reduction target ahead of world leaders’ summit | Climate News

The UK government is expected to make an important announcement on cutting emissions to help tackle climate change, according to Sky News.

Preparations are underway to set a new target in law to reduce emissions – it is estimated at 78% by 2035 from 1990 levels.

This would be in line with the recommendations of the Climate Change Committee, which advises the government on how to achieve net zero.

Importantly, any new commitments could include aviation and shipping emissions for the first time.

This would mean an increase in ambition compared to the international commitment made by the UK government last December to cut emissions by 68% by 2030.

An announcement is expected in the week that the United States prepares to host a virtual summit of world leaders aimed at advancing global climate ambition, by giving Boris Johnson something to bring to the international table.

The United States is expected to showcase its own emission reductions at the event.

And that would boost the credibility of the UK ahead of hosting the big COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in November.

The UK cannot afford to act too late with big polluting nations like China – under pressure to achieve his ambition – watch carefully.

However, the government is under pressure to support any new goals with policies and investments and to lay the foundations to achieve net zero.

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Ed Matthew, campaign director for climate change think tank E3G, said: “Setting an ambitious emissions reduction target would boost the UK’s diplomatic willingness to persuade other countries to …