Rapid climate mitigation is a brilliant opportunity to slow global warming now. It is comparatively easy and cost-effective compared to lessening CO2 emissions. As a complementary strategy to aggressive action on CO2 it can buy the planet more time before we reach key tipping points in the earth’s thermostat - such as the melting of the arctic and glaciers.
The European Union (EU) is the main source of environmental law across the 27 Member States, and is also leading the development of climate and energy law and policy. The decarbonisation of Europe’s economies depends on the right laws being adopted and the right laws and policies being implemented, tracked and enforced.
In December 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008, setting in statute a legally binding, long-term target for the UK to reduce its carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. The Climate Change Act provides the legislative framework for the UK Government’s programme of actions and policies on climate change, establishes a system of carbon budgets, and creates the independent expert body, the Committee on Climate Change, to advise the Government.
