United Kingdom

The UK’s net-zero framework remains anchored in the Climate Change Act 2008 (as amended in 2019 to set a 2050 net-zero target) with statutory carbon budgets and oversight by the Climate Change Committee. The government’s 2021 Net Zero Strategy and the 2023 “Powering Up Britain”/Net Zero Growth Plan set sectoral pathways, subsequently supplemented by (i) the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, which outlines steps to fully decarbonise electricity by 2030, and (ii) the Great British Energy Act 2025, creating a publicly owned company to accelerate investment in clean power. Together, these documents provide the current national planning architecture, though some elements (e.g., the 2023 Carbon Budget Delivery Plan) are undergoing revision following court rulings requiring more specific delivery detail.

The UK does not mandate board-level employee representation; workforce engagement is encouraged through the UK Corporate Governance Code (2024) (apply or explain) and directors’ Companies Act 2006 s.172 duties to consider employees and other stakeholders. Board gender balance is driven by voluntary national targets under the government-backed FTSE Women Leaders Review (minimum 40% women on FTSE 350 boards/leadership by end-2025), with high take-up but no statutory quota. On ESG disclosure, the UK has mandatory climate-related reporting for in-scope companies and LLPs since FYs starting 6 April 2022 (TCFD-aligned regulations), and is establishing UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS) (ISSB-based) from 2025 onwards; the government decided not to proceed with a UK green taxonomy in July 2025.

Central government operates routine public consultations guided by the Cabinet Office Consultation Principles; regulatory proposals require proportionate impact assessments under the Better Regulation Framework. The Public Sector Equality Duty (Equality Act 2010, s.149) legally requires public bodies to give due regard to impacts on protected groups in decision-making; the Equality and Human Rights Commission issues technical guidance, and the UK government provides supplementary PSED guidance for public authorities. While consultations are widespread and equality impact duties are statutory, consultation is not legally mandatory in all cases and coverage of specific marginalised groups beyond those protected characteristics varies by department and instrument.

Key references:

Cabinet Office, Consultation Principles (current version).

Department for Business & Trade, Better Regulation Framework: Guidance (2023).

Equality Act 2010, s.149 (Public Sector Equality Duty) & official guidance.

Equality and Human Rights Commission (statutory body), Technical Guidance on the PSED.

Central government operates routine public consultations guided by the Cabinet Office Consultation Principles; regulatory proposals require proportionate impact assessments under the Better Regulation Framework. The Public Sector Equality Duty (Equality Act 2010, s.149) legally requires public bodies to give due regard to impacts on protected groups in decision-making; the Equality and Human Rights Commission issues technical guidance, and the UK government provides supplementary PSED guidance for public authorities. While consultations are widespread and equality impact duties are statutory, consultation is not legally mandatory in all cases and coverage of specific marginalised groups beyond those protected characteristics varies by department and instrument.

The UK maintains extensive natural capital accounts and publishes human capital, social capital, and national well-being statistics via the Office for National Statistics (ONS). These metrics inform appraisal through HM Treasury’s Green Book, with Defra’s Enabling a Natural Capital Approach (ENCA) referenced as supplementary guidance. ONS updated its Measuring progress, well-being and beyond GDP series in 2025 and continues to develop dashboards; however, the UK does not yet operate a single, fully integrated comprehensive wealth framework that is embedded across budgeting and statutory planning for all capital types.

Policy remains active across disclosure, supervision and market design. The PRA consulted in CP10/25 (Apr 2025) on updated supervisory expectations for managing climate-related risks in banks/insurers; the Bank of England continues work to embed climate risks in stress-testing (Sept 2025) alongside its regular system-wide stress tests. Mandatory climate-related disclosures apply to large companies/LLPs since 2022, and the government is endorsing UK SRS (ISSB-based). On market instruments, the government published draft primary legislation for a UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) on 24 Apr 2025. In July 2025, HMT concluded it would not proceed with a UK green taxonomy.

The Bank of England made a decision in 2024 to embed climate risks into its core operations, a pioneering move among central banks. The Bank is actively considering how to embed climate risks into its regular stress-testing frameworks. Its 2025 Climate‑related Financial Disclosure outlines deepened climate risk analysis across sovereign bond holdings, and enhanced supervisory expectations for how banks and insurers should manage climate-related risks.

The UK has not introduced yet a Green Term Funding Scheme to subsidize green lending or a Green Capital Requirement to penalize dirty lending, which experts and international bodies have suggested are needed to accelerate the transition.

UK's fiscal policy has been criticized for providing tax breaks and subsidies for fossil fuels. For instance, the temporary cut in fuel duty rates, extended until March 2025, which, while intended to support households, is a fiscal subsidy for fossil fuel consumption. Reports also urge the government to reform green taxation more proactively—citing the tax code’s current bias toward gas over electricity as a barrier to emissions reduction.

The UK includes trade and sustainable development (TSD) or environment chapters in its post-Brexit trade agreements, including the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the UK–New Zealand FTA, the UK–Australia FTA, and its accession to the CPTPP. The UK–New Zealand FTA contains one of the most extensive lists of environmental goods with tariff liberalisation, and includes specific provisions on environmental services and cooperation. Both the UK–Australia and UK–New Zealand FTAs exclude investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms. Domestically, the UK operates a carbon pricing system via the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS), and has announced plans to introduce a UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in January 2027, with exemptions for jurisdictions linked to the UK ETS. However, the UK government decided in July 2025 not to proceed with a national green taxonomy, and there is no explicit use of UNFCCC/CBDR-linked market-access exemptions in its trade agreements.

The UK ETS (launched 2021) is the national carbon market, with policy updated regularly (technical guidance refreshed 6 Aug 2025; policy overview 29 Aug 2025). In May 2025, the EU and UK announced a commitment to link their ETSs, and the UK is legislating for a UK CBAM to start in 2027, interacting with ETS design and free allocation. The UK retains legally binding carbon budgets under the Climate Change Act 2008, set on rolling five-year periods (six budgets in law to 2037).

The UK's approach to green sectoral policy has matured from the more general 2017 Clean Growth Strategy to the highly coordinated Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener (2021) and its subsequent sectoral plans. This strategy provides a detailed roadmap for decarbonizing all sectors of the economy, including transport, housing, industry, and land use, with a clear focus on achieving the 2050 net-zero target.

In 2025, the government introduced a Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan, a 10-year strategy targeting sectors like clean energy technologies with a drive to double investment to over £30 billion per year by 2035.

The UK does not have a single, integrated national circular economy roadmap with a circular material use rate (CMUR) target. However, it has implemented a package of statutory reforms under the Resources and Waste Strategy, including Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging, “Simpler Recycling” obligations, and a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers scheduled to launch in October 2027. The Procurement Act 2023 and the 2025 National Procurement Policy Statement introduce requirements for public procurement to support environmental objectives and reduce waste. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes material flow accounts, but no economy-wide CMUR target has been adopted.

The UK has adopted a Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate requiring 80% of new car sales and 70% of new van sales to be zero-emission by 2030, rising to 100% by 2035. As of April 2025, the government confirmed that hybrid vehicles may continue to be sold until 2035. Public transport decarbonisation is supported by the Transport Decarbonisation Plan and the ZEBRA (Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas) programme, which provides funding to local authorities. Transport for London (TfL) is on track to achieve a fully zero-emission bus fleet by 2030. Incentives for electric vehicle uptake and charging infrastructure are maintained through the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV). However, there is no comprehensive national framework for full freight electrification by 2030.

The government has reversed its de facto ban on onshore wind, with a new strategy launched in 2025 aimed at doubling onshore wind capacity by 2030. This policy change, along with a commitment to an Electricity Open Access Framework, is intended to accelerate the deployment of renewables. The UK now has a clear goal to decarbonize its electricity system by 2035, aiming for 95% of its electricity to come from low-carbon sources. Renewables accounted for about 50% of total electricity generation in 2024, 65% for low-carbon sources, which includes both renewables and nuclear power. Coal has been phased out entirely. Significant challenges remain in the heat and transport sectors. While the government has launched the Clean Heat Market Mechanism in 2025 and introduced a zero-emission vehicle mandate, the pace of deployment for technologies like heat pumps and electric vehicles is still not on track to meet the 2030 targets. The newly established public energy company Great British Energy (GBE), enshrined by the Great British Energy Act 2025, pledges to generate 8 GW of renewable power by 2030, and the government empowered the National Energy System Operator to develop a Strategic Spatial Energy Plan and regional energy plans.

This is most clearly demonstrated by the new Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan (2025), which provides a detailed 10-year strategy to create investment and jobs in key green sectors like offshore wind, nuclear, and hydrogen. A major development is the establishment of the Office for Clean Energy Jobs under the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. This new office is specifically tasked with ensuring the country has the skilled workforce needed to meet its clean energy targets, focusing on transitioning workers from carbon-intensive industries and ensuring jobs are high quality and well-paid.

The government is also actively addressing the skills gap through various initiatives, including a renewed focus on Skills Bootcamps, a Green Apprenticeship Advisory Panel, and the Energy Skills Passport, facilitating rapid retraining of oil and gas workers for roles in offshore wind and clean energy. These efforts are supported by a clear commitment to "Build it in Britain," a strategy that aims to localize supply chains and bring jobs to industrial heartlands and coastal communities.

The Office for National Statistics reported that there were an estimated 690,900 full-time equivalent green jobs in the UK as of 2023. The Labour government has projected the creation of an additional 650,000 clean‑energy jobs by 2030.

UK-wide just-transition provisions are present across sectoral plans rather than a single national framework. The North Sea Transition Deal includes workforce transition commitments for the offshore sector; the government has pursued Green Jobs initiatives and transition-planning expectations (e.g., Transition Plan Taskforce guidance for companies), while the 2024/2025 Clean Power 2030 and related programmes emphasise skills and regional opportunities. Scotland operates a more formal just-transition architecture, but at UK level there is not yet one integrated national just-transition framework with tailored sectoral guidance and benefit-sharing mechanisms across all affected communities.

The UK provides a distinct legal form for social enterprise via the Community Interest Company (CIC) regime, alongside co-operatives and charities. Targeted support for MSME decarbonisation includes Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF) Phase 3 (2024–2028, up to £185 m), the UK Business Climate Hub (publicly backed portal for SME tools, finance and regional schemes), and finance via the British Business Bank (e.g., Growth Guarantee Scheme, 2025). Procurement reforms (the Procurement Act 2023 and the National Procurement Policy Statement 2025) embed priorities including environmental outcomes that can favour greener suppliers.

As of 2025, the UK’s social protection system continues to lack integration with green transitions or climate-responsive frameworks. The current offerings, while significant in scope, do not incorporate a green economy perspective or climate resilience into benefit design or delivery. However, while the UK has no national-level pilots linking social protection to the green economy, there are some local innovatives and social-policy pilots (for example local basic income trials initiated in Wales, and community-energy ownership schemes with social components).

The Environment Act 2021 establishes long-term targets and institutions (including the OEP). The Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 (EIP23) sets statutory milestones, with annual progress reporting; Biodiversity Net Gain became mandatory for most developments in England from Feb. 2024; Local Nature Recovery Strategies are now statutory to guide spatial action; and the UK’s Marine Strategy sets measures toward Good Environmental Status, alongside a mature MPA network and designation of Highly Protected Marine Areas in 2023. These instruments align with SDG 14/15 and the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, though progress toward some “30 by 30” outcomes relies on ongoing implementation and monitoring.

The UK produces regular natural-capital accounts (ONS/Defra) across multiple ecosystems and services (e.g., UK natural capital accounts 2024; Woodland 2025; Marine & coastal 2025). Government is scaling evidence via the Natural Capital & Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) programme to deliver an England baseline by 2029. The former Natural Capital Committee ceased in 2020; broader oversight is provided by the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) and appraisal guidance integrates natural-capital valuation via HM Treasury’s Green Book and Defra’s ENCA. There is no dedicated, independent natural-capital advisory body with a statutory role over budgets/planning equivalent to the former NCC.

The UK Government Food Strategy for England (2025) outlines ten priority outcomes across affordability, health, sustainability, and resilience, building on the 2022 strategy. Agricultural support is being reoriented through Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes, including the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), with multi-year funding confirmed for 2026–2029. Updates to public food procurement standards are underway, and SDG-related reporting continues via the Office for National Statistics. While the strategy framework and support schemes are in place, there are no quantified national targets for reducing the ecological footprint or phasing out harmful subsidies.

The UK employs multiple nature-finance instruments: Biodiversity Net Gain for most developments; Environmental Land Management schemes (with updated payments and expanded SFI offers in 2024/25); and a developing Nature Markets Framework with codes such as the Woodland Carbon Code and Peatland Code. Carbon-pricing operates via the UK ETS (with 2023 reforms and a 2025 agreement to pursue linkage with the EU ETS), and a UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism is due from 2027. Conversely, the government decided in July 2025 not to proceed with a standalone UK Green Taxonomy, and comprehensive removal of environmentally harmful subsidies is incomplete.