The High Court has ruled the UK government’s Carbon Budget Delivery Plan is unlawful.
The ruling is the second time the Court has found Whitehall’s net zero proposals to have breached the law.
The Court is now expected to order Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Claire Coutinho (pictured) to draw up a revised plan within 12 months.
The new plan must make sure the UK meets its legally binding carbon budgets and its international pledge to cut emissions by over two-thirds by 2030.
The move comes after the Court ruled the government’s the Net Zero Strategy was unlawful, gave key policies the green light without even looking at the assessments of the risks surrounding them, according to The Good Law Project, which brought the legal action along with Friends of the Earth and ClientEarth.
It said the ruling marked “another staggering failure from the government to protect our planet, build the green economy and create the next generation of jobs”.
Good Law Project’s legal director Emma Dearnaley said: “This welcome ruling shows that the law is our best – and often last – line of defence against a government that is failing to act as it must to address the climate emergency.
“And we will continue to use it to push for accountability and greater ambition.”
ClientEarth’s senior lawyer Sam Hunter Jones added: “The government cannot just cross its fingers and hope for unproven techno-fixes and uncertain policies to plug the huge gaps in its plans.
“No more pie in the sky – the government must now take real action.”
Friends of the Earth lawyer Katie de Kauwe said: “This is another embarrassing defeat for the government and its reckless and inadequate climate plans.
“It shows the strength of the Climate Change Act – brought into force after a successful campaign led by Friends of the Earth and the backing of an overwhelming majority of MPs – to hold the government of the day to account for meeting its legal requirements to cut emissions.