Climate change and targets

Some gases in the Earth's atmosphere act a bit like the glass in a greenhouse, trapping the sun's heat and stopping it from leaking back into space.

Many of these gases occur naturally, but human activity is increasing the concentrations of some of them in the atmosphere, in particular:

•
carbon dioxide (CO₂)
•
methane
•
nitrous oxide
•
fluorinated gases (F-gases)

CO₂ is the greenhouse gas (GHG) most commonly produced by human activities and it is responsible for a high proportion of man-made global warming.

For more on air pollution generally, see: Air pollution—overview.

Targets to drive progress

GHG emissions reduction targets provide the backbone to energy policy and legislation at the international, European and national levels.

The main purpose of emissions targets and carbon budgets is to:

•
drive progress for climate change adaptation and mitigation
•
assist carbon accounting
•
provide stability for investment decisions
•
encourage behaviour change

International

It was not until 1990 that an international legal mechanism began forming to address global warming—considered to be the most urgent environmental issue facing humankind

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

TAKE A FREE TRIAL

Latest Energy News

DESNZ, GBE and MHCLG announce Local Power Plan funding for community energy projects

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), Great British Energy (GBE) and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has published the Local Power Plan, which is intended to offer up to £1bn to support locally owned clean energy projects. The initiative is described as the biggest public investment in community energy in the UK and aims to enable communities to own and control their energy, cut bills and generate revenue for community centres, social clubs and places of worship as part of the government’s Pride in Place agenda.

Ofgem responds to relief request over TMO4+ Protected Projects connection delays

Ofgem has published its response, rejecting a request from the National Energy System Operator (NESO) and Transmission Owners to be relieved of obligations under the Connections Methodologies. The request was made in response to delays in connection dates for TMO4+ Protected Projects under the Gate 2 to Whole Queue process. Ofgem confirmed it would not grant relief, despite the widespread delays affecting projects that were expected to retain their original connection dates and points.

DESNZ announces AR7a Contracts for Difference results

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has announced the outcome of Allocation Round 7 (AR7) of the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme, stating that it has secured 14.7GW of new renewable electricity capacity across 201 projects, which it says is equivalent to powering around 16 million homes. DESNZ describes this as the largest CfD round to date in terms of both awarded capacity and number of projects.

DESNZ confirms adjustments to CM auction parameters for 2026-27 and 2029-30

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has published a letter to the National Energy System Operator, confirming adjustments to the Capacity Market (CM) auction parameters. These adjustments apply to the one-year ahead (T-1) auction for the delivery year 2026-27 and the four-year ahead (T-4) auction for the delivery year 2020-30. For the T-1 auction, the target has been set at 6.3 GW, while the T-4 target has been set at 39.4 GW, with an additional 1.0 GW set aside for a future auction.