Getting on track to net zero:
A UK carbon policy tracker for 2030

This tool measures how close the UK is to meeting its near-term net zero goals. It shows two measurements of progress: projected emissions reductions and spending commitments.

It will be updated as government makes carbon reduction and spending commitments ahead of COP26.

Read more about our methodology>>

On or off track?

The UK is off track to meeting its climate goals. There's a 313MtCO2e gap between the UK's planned emissions reductions and the trajectory it needs to be on to achieve its 2050 net zero law.

Policies to get the UK on track to net zero

Government needs new policy to get on track to net zero in time for COP26. As Government acts over the next year, this tracker will be updated to monitor progress in closing the emissions gap. We’ve identified five policies which can be implemented immediately, and which would more than fill the gap in meeting the UK’s 2050 net zero target. As we track progress, we will identify further easy-to-implement, low cost policies that can get the UK on track to net zero before then.

Spending to address the climate and nature emergency

This measures how much spending the UK has committed to addressing the climate and nature emergency, relative to how much is needed. This goes beyond the near term policies for net zero, and indicates progress toward more transformational change.

About this tracker

Measurement 1. Proposed policy analysis

This analysis is based on work published in Acting on net zero now, and forms part of Green Alliance's Cutting Carbon Now programme. All figures refer to the 5th carbon budget period (2028-2032). The underlying research is based on the following reports:

Technical analysis : ‘How the UK can stop contributing to Climate Change’ (November 2018)

Policy 1 Transport sector: ‘How the UK can lead the electric vehicle revolution’ (March 2018)
Policy 2 Domestic buildings sector: Reinventing Retrofit (February 2019)
Policy 3 Nature Restoration: Cutting the climate impact of land use (April 2019)
Policy 4 Industry: By popular demand (November 2018); Less in, more out (November 2018)
Policy 5 Power: ‘Closing the clean power gap (September 2017);

For information about the public mandate to act on these policies, see: Power to the people (July 2019)

Measurement 2. Proposed spending analysis

This analysis is based on work published in Government investment for a greener and fairer economy. The analysis outlines the scale of spending needed to address the climate and nature emergency, and so covers a broader analysis of the UK's the environmental challenge than simply net zero. In total, it sees around 2% of GDP being allocated to the task. The key spending provisions are outlined below.

Current spendingNew spending neededTotal
Power£8.5bn-£8.5bn
Transport£2.79bn£11.5bn£14.33bn
Nature£3.57bn£5.62bn£9.19bn
Buildings£1.8bn£3.6bn£5.4bn
Just transition-£4.32bn£4.32bn
Industry£0.09bn£0.207bn£0.3bn
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