In September 2019, the UK won the bid to host the 26th
Conference of the Parties (known as COP26) to bring together heads
of state, climate experts and negotiators as part of an
international response to the climate emergency.
As the host of COP26 – now due to take place this
November, the UK has come under pressure to set suitably ambitious
climate change targets and demonstrate a 'world leading
position' in the fight against climate change. So, in April
2021 the Government announced that it would be adopting a Sixth
Carbon Budget, in line with the recommendations of the Committee on
Climate Change, which sets a new legally-binding commitment to cut
the UK's greenhouse gas emissions by 78% by 2035 compared to
1990 levels. It will also for the first time include the UK's
share of international aviation and shipping emissions. The new
legal commitment is to be enshrined as a further amendment to the
Climate Change Act 2008 by the end of June 2021.
