Plan B & 11 Citizens V UK 2050 Carbon Target

Summary

In 2008, the UK Government passed the Climate Change Act 2008, which aimed to commit the UK to making a “fair” contribution to maintaining the politically recognised global climate change limit of 2˚C. The “carbon target” was set at making an 80% reduction of emissions by 2050 compared to a 1990 baseline.

In December 2015, the UK Government, along with 197 others, adopted the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, which rejected the 2˚C limit as inadequate and dangerous, and committed government to limiting warming to “well below” 2˚C, while aiming for 1.5˚C.

Yet by April 2017, the Government had still made no plans to conduct a review of the Climate Change Act, to align its domestic carbon target to the Paris Agreement it was committed to.

That’s when Plan B began writing to both the Government and the Committee on Climate Change, urging them to take action.

by September 2017 we had not received a satisfactory response from either, so we issued a formal “letter before legal action”. As we still didn’t get any commitment to revising the target, we issued formal legal proceedings in December 2017 along with 11 UK Citizens from all walks of life.

Just one month later the Committee on Climate Change recommend the Government undertake a review. By April 2018 the Government had agree to conduct a review and by June 2019 they had introduced a new target of “net zero” by 2050, which though still dangerous, inequitable and inadequate, was an improvement on what went before.

No doubt influenced by these developments, the Court refused us a full hearing on the case. The lesson, from our perspective, was that litigation could make things happen, whether inside or outside Court.

Case Correspondence & Documentation

On 13 April 2017, Plan B wrote urging the Secretary of State to:

(a) exercise his power to revise the carbon target for 2050, aligning it to the global climate obligation and the Paris Agreement; and

(b) take reasonable and proportionate measures to safeguard the right to life.

Also on 13 April 2017, Plan B wrote to the CC Committee urging it to revise the 2016 Committee Recommendation.

The CC Committee responded on 2 May 2017 asking Plan B to provide some further analysis in support of its case.

Plan B responded to that request on 19 May 2017.

Plan B chased a response from the Secretary of State and received a brief acknowledgement on 29 June 2017 indicating a substantive response would be received “shortly”. Plan B responded the same day to highlight the urgency of the matter.  No further response has been received.

On 7 August 2017, the CC Committee again acknowledged in a letter to Plan B that:

“… the Paris Agreement describes a higher level of ambition than the one that formed the basis of the UK’s existing legislated emission reduction targets.”

26 September 2017: Plan B serves UK Government with formal ‘Pre-Action Protocol Letter’ challenging its ongoing failure to set a carbon target that accords with science and international law.

24 October 2017: The Government sends Plan B its response, confirming its refusal to revise the carbon target.

8 December 2017: Plan B files its Claim Form and Grounds of Judicial Review, commencing the formal legal process.

3 January 2018: High Court seals our Claim form, which we serve on Secretary of State for BEIS (the Defendant) and the Committee on Climate Change (the interested Party). Both have 21 days to submit their responses.

29 January 2018: Secretary of State for BEIS file his Summary Grounds. CCC files its Summary Grounds.Their respective positions conflict. BEIS claims to be acting on CCC advice that a more ambitious 2050 target is unfeasible. CCC says that a more ambitious target is in fact feasible.

12 February 2018: Plan B files and serves a Reply to Summary Grounds, highlighting the inconsistency between the positions of the Secretary of State and the CCC.

14 February 2018:Lang J declines to grant permission on the papers

22 February 2018: Plan B files to renew its application for permission.

20 March 2018: Permission hearing to take place at the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand. Judge Nicola Davies adjourns the case on the grounds that:

• a full day’s hearing is required
• the CCC should file a further response

10 April 2018: CCC submits a further response, stating that the basis of its advice to the government was that the current 2050 target was ‘potentially’ consistent with the Paris Agreement. It emphasises that its advice was that greater ambition was in fact feasible.

17 April 2018: Claire Perry, the Energy Minister at BEIS, states: “I am pleased to announce that after the IPCC report later this year, we will be seeking advice from the UK’s independent advisers, the Committee on Climate Change, on the implications of the Paris Agreement for the UK’s long-term emissions reduction targets.”

Plan B Skeleton Argument for permission hearing, 4 July

Government Skeleton Argument for Permission Hearing

High Court judgement refusing Plan B a full hearing

Plan B skeleton argument to Court of Appeal

Court of Appeal rejects our appeal

Press Coverage

Climate change: Ministers should be ‘sued’ over targets (BBC, September 2017)

Can climate litigation save the world? (The Guardian, March 2017)

Court action to save young from climate bill (BBC, July 2018)

Supporting peer-reviewed publications (published here with kind permission of Lawtext)

Environmental Liability, Law, Policy and Practice, Vol 24, Issue 3, 2016 The Paris Agreement Implementation Blueprint: a practical guide to bridging the gap between actions and goal and closing the accountability deficit (Part 1) Tim Crosland Plan B, UK Aubrey Meyer The Global Commons Institute, UK Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh University of the South Pacific, Vanuatu

Environmental Liability, Law, Policy and Practice, Vol 24, Issue 5, 2016 The Paris Agreement Implementation Blueprint: a practical guide to bridging the gap between actions and goal and closing the accountability deficit (Part 2) Tim Crosland Plan B, UK Aubrey Meyer The Global Commons Institute, UK Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh University of the South Pacific, Vanuatu

Who are we? 

We are the charity Plan B and a group of 11 concerned citizens aged between nine and 79. We are all worried about our futures.