United Kingdom

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Recognizing the urgency to go further to tackle climate change, the UK has emerged as an international leader in tackling super pollutants, taking on the role of CCAC Co-Chair in 2025.

The UK has a strong track record of ambitious climate action – hosting the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland where the Global Methane Pledge (GMP) was first launched. At COP29 in November 2024, the UK announced their ambitious Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) which targets emissions reductions under the Paris Agreement 1.5C commitment to reduce all greenhouse gas emissions by at least 81% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels. The updated NDC is in line with the recommendation from the Climate Change Committee, and the UK has called on other countries to match their ambition to address the urgency of climate change.

Kerry McCarthy, Minister for Climate at the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and incoming Co-Chair of the CCAC, said: "I am proud that the UK is joining Brazil to co-lead the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, this new responsibility reflects our unwavering commitment to tackling dangerous super pollutants and accelerating the global clean energy transition. As we position ourselves as a clean energy superpower, the UK will work alongside our partners to champion bold, science-driven solutions to combat climate change and improve air quality worldwide.”

In addition to an ambitious NDC, the UK has a long history of supporting international efforts to reduce super pollutants – including commitments made through the CCAC that will significantly contribute to achieving climate targets. In addition to being a GMP participant, the UK has signed onto the COP29 Declaration on Reducing Methane from Organic Waste to support global methane reductions from the waste sector and has provided funding to the International Energy Agency’s methane programme. In 2024, the UK also announced a contribution to the CCAC Trust Fund to launch the Fossil Fuel Regulatory Programme (FFRP) - an initiative to support up to 20 developing countries to reduce methane from fossil fuels by 2027. The UK has previously served as a member of the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) Steering Group – and has been a member of the Global Methane Initiative since 2004.  

The UK has been a leader in combatting air pollution globally, supporting the CCAC Clean Air Flagship to develop an Air Quality Management Exchange Platform (AQMx), and serving as Co-Chair to the Forum for International Cooperation on Air Pollution (FICAP). The UK has endorsed the COP28 Declaration on Climate and Health recognizing the urgent action needed to reduce air pollution, and is supporting UNEA Resolution 6/10 Promoting regional cooperation on air pollution to improve air quality globally. In 2016, the UK endorsed the CCAC’s Marrakech Communiqué, in which partners commit to reduce black carbon emissions through cleaner diesel fuels and vehicles and develop black carbon inventories and projections.  

The UK was also one of the first countries to ratify the Kigali Amendment, followed by an endorsement of the Biarritz Pledge to quickly improve energy efficiency in the cooling sector.  

Address

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), 55 Whitehall

London, SW1A 2HP, United Kingdom 

Read more about the UK’s action on climate below. 

Other activities

Agriculture

• 2015-2018 – Beef Feed Efficiency programme put in place to research and collect data on feed efficiency and genetic analysis of cattle which is expected to decrease greenhouse gas emissions by up to 22%.
• 2020 – UK biomethane production via anaerobic digestion to increase with the introduction of the Green Gas Support Scheme from 2021 to 2026.
• The UK is a member of the Global Research Alliance, working with the Croplands Research Group, Livestock Research Group, and the Inventory and Monitoring Cross Cutting Group.
• The UK-China Sustainable Agriculture Innovation Network (SAIN) Partnership helps promote sustainable agricultural practices and is expected to assist in the reduction of methane emissions.

Transportation

• 2020 – Road Investment Strategy 2 (RIS2) announced to span from 2020 to 2025 and includes a  £345 million Environment and Wellbeing fund to invest in measures to improve environmental outcomes, including on air quality, biodiversity, flood risk, and retrofitting existing roads with modern environmental standards and green infrastructure solutions.
• 2018 – Department of Transport added an additional 40 million GBP to the 100 million GBP fund to support low emission buses and the Clean Bus Technology Fund.  
• 2020 - Plug In Car Grants are extended until 2022-2023 to incentivize the purchase of electric vehicles.
• 2014 – Heavy goods vehicles above 12 tonnes gross weight are required to pay a HGV Road Used Levy where vehicles that don’t meet the Euro VI emissions standards will pay 20% more, and vehicles that do meet the Euro VI standards will pay 10% less.  
• 2018 – The Transforming Cities Fund is created to address congestion and improve public transport connectivity in major cities.
• 2017 – Between 2019 and 2024 the UK government has allocated 48 billion GBP towards upgrading the railway network, including projects such as the Great North Rail Project and the Thameslink Programme.

HFCs

• The UK are continuing to use the same schedule as the EU in phasing down HFC consumption by 79% by 2030 compared to a baseline level calculated between 2009 and 2012.
• Defra have started a review of the Great Britain F-gas Regulation that is due to be completed by no later than 2022. It will be used to assess how we can go even further, with a focus on what additional reductions  to the use and emissions of HFCs and other fluorinated greenhouse gases can be made to help the UK meet net zero in 2050. 

• 2021 - During the UK's G7 presidency, Climate and Environment Ministers affirmed the importance of phasing down HFCs and ratifying the Kigali Amendment in the Ministers' Communiqué.

Climate Finance

• The UK government pledged to provide 5.8 billion GBP in International Climate Finance towards climate action from 2016 to 2021. Moving forward the UK announced that they would double this amount to 11.6 billion GBP between 2021 and 2026. The UK is also directly providing funds to countries to aid the implementation of NDC strategies through the UK PACT which operates within the ICF.

Health-Climate-Air quality

• The UK supports the World Bank’s Pollution Management and Environmental Health Program via the Department for International Development and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, in collaboration with Germany and Norway.
• The city of London is a partner of the BreatheLife campaign. As a part of their efforts to meet the WHO air quality guidelines, they have implemented an ultra-low emissions zone in the city center which helped reduce roadside emissions by 44%.

Partnerships
   

• The UK partnered with the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE) programme which has involved them with the measuring of important atmospheric gas species that pertain to the Montreal Protocol and nearly all significant non-CO2 gases in the Kyoto Protocol to mitigate climate change.
• The UK has been a member of the Global Methane Initiative since 2004 and has several GMI project sites across the country to help reduce methane emission and use them as a renewable energy source.