How realistic are the UK’s new greenhouse gas emissions targets?

Boris Johnson is set to announce ‘world-leading’ climate commitments

A British Airways flight takes off
Aviation will need to be cut to meet new emissions targets
(Image credit: Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images)

The UK is to “toughen” its targets on greenhouse gas emissions for the next 15 years in new plans to be announced ahead of the UN climate conference in November.

The Guardian says the UK will be “the first major developed economy” to set more stringent targets, “intended to help spur further action by other governments” in the build up to COP26, the vital climate talks that will be hosted by the UK in Glasgow this year.

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 Sorcha Bradley is a writer at The Week and a regular on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast. She worked at The Week magazine for a year and a half before taking up her current role with the digital team, where she mostly covers UK current affairs and politics. Before joining The Week, Sorcha worked at slow-news start-up Tortoise Media. She has also written for Sky News, The Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard and Grazia magazine, among other publications. She has a master’s in newspaper journalism from City, University of London, where she specialised in political journalism.