Government's Climate Change Plan: High Court Challenge

The Climate Change Act 2008 requires the Government to prepare a 'carbon budget delivery plan' setting out how the targets for reducing emissions will be met.

The latest version, approved by the Minister in 2023, had been subject to a legal challenge by a collection of eNGOs and climate advocacy groups. On Friday 3rd May, the High Court ruled that the plan did not meet the requirements of the Act, and the Government must therefore revisit the document.

We wait to see if the Government will challenge the decision. This judgement comes on the heels of a decision of the European Court of Human Rights that Switzerland had not done enough to address its contribution to climate change (reviewed here: CAAV Note 240414: Climate Change - ECHR Decision - Klimaseniorinnen - The Central Association for Agricultural Valuers).

Such legal scrutiny puts pressure on governments to look closer at the delivery of climate and nature targets; with one effect being the development of related policy, schemes and the regulation for land use.