In UK, environmental campaigners sue government over climate strategy failure: Report

The United Kingdom government has been sued for failing to incorporate the measures needed to achieve the projected emissions reductions in its net-zero climate strategy. On Wednesday, environmental campaigners ClientEarth (CE), and Friends of the Earth (FoE) filed court papers against the government. The CE also stated that failure to satisfy regulatory carbon budgets would violate the Human Rights Act by affecting young people's right to life and family life, The Guardian reported. The country's plan to achieve net-zero carbon emissions has been termed as "pie-in-the-sky" by ClientEarth.

In October 2021, the net-zero strategy was released by the government, which includes commitments to phase out new fossil fuel cars by 2030 and gas boilers by 2035. However, it did not elaborate on how the policy would be implemented. It also failed to specify how the carbon reductions would be accomplished in each sector. According to lawyers of the campaign groups, it depended on speculative technology like zero-carbon aviation fuels and directly extracting and burying carbon dioxide from the air, the report stated. 

Climate Change Act requires the govt to formulate strategy

In recent years, ClientEarth challenged and defeated the government in court three times over ineffective air pollution policies. Meanwhile, Friends of the Earth won a court dispute over the expense of filing environmental claims against the government. Both CE and FoE contended that the Climate Change Act requires the government to formulate a strategy to fulfil carbon budgets as soon as possible. According to the evaluation included in the net-zero strategy, UK emissions in 2035 will be double what is allowed, whereas, targets in 2025 and 2030 would also likely be missed. 

Net-zero approach must involve real-world policies to achieve the target: CE lawyer

According to CE lawyer Sam Hunter Jones, a net-zero approach must involve real-world policies to achieve the target. Anything less, he argued, is a violation of the government's legal obligations and amounts to "greenwashing" and "climate delay." "The government's 'pie-in-the-sky' approach shifts the risk on young people and future generations, who will bear the brunt of the climate issue," Hunter remarked as per the British news outlet. The high court will determine whether to allow full hearings of the cases after the claims have been filed and the government's defence has been submitted.