Climate change in the United Kingdom is impacting the country's environment and human population in many ways. The country's climate is becoming warmer, with drier summers and wetter winters. The frequency and intensity of storms, floods, droughts and heatwaves is increasing, and sea level rise
Globally, sea levels are rising due to human-caused climate change. Between 1901 and 2018, the globally averaged sea level rose by , or 1–2 mm per year on average.IPCC, 2019Summary for Policymakers InIPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cry ...
is impacting coastal areas. The United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
(UK) is also a contributor to climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
, having emitted more greenhouse gas from the country per person than the world average. Climate change is having economic impacts on the UK and presents risks to human health and ecosystems.
The government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...
has committed to reducing emissions by 50% of 1990 levels by 2025 and to net zero
Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the " ...
by 2050. In 2020, the UK set a target of 68% reduction in emissions by 2030 in its commitments in the Paris Agreement. The country will phase-out coal by 2024. Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
passed Acts related to climate change in 2006 and 2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
, the latter representing the first time a government legally mandated a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The UK Climate Change Programme was established in 2000 and the Climate Change Committee
The Climate Change Committee (CCC), originally named the Committee on Climate Change, is an independent non-departmental public body, formed under the Climate Change Act (2008) to advise the United Kingdom and devolved Governments and Parliament ...
provides policy advice towards mitigation targets. In 2019, Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
declared a ' climate change emergency'. The UK has been prominent in international cooperation on climate change, including through UN conferences and during its European Union membership.
Climate change has been discussed by British politicians since the late 20th century, but it has attracted greater political, public and media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...
attention in the UK from the 2000s. Public opinion
Public opinion is the collective opinion on a specific topic or voting intention relevant to a society. It is the people's views on matters affecting them.
Etymology
The term "public opinion" was derived from the French ', which was first use ...
polls show concern amongst the majority of Britons. The British royal family have also prioritised the issue and various climate change activism initiatives have taken place in the UK.
Greenhouse gas emissions
Impacts on the natural environment
Temperature and weather changes
The
Central England temperature
The Central England Temperature (CET) record is a meteorological dataset originally published by Professor Gordon Manley in 1953 and subsequently extended and updated in 1974, following many decades of painstaking work. The monthly mean surface a ...
series, recorded since 1659 in the
Midlands, shows an observed increase in temperature, consistent with anthropogenic climate change rather than natural
climate variability and change
Climate variability includes all the variations in the climate that last longer than individual weather events, whereas the term climate change only refers to those variations that persist for a longer period of time, typically decades or more ...
. According to the
Met Office, climate change will affect the
climate of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom straddles the higher mid-latitudes between 49° and 61°N on the western seaboard of Europe. Since the UK is always in or close to the path of the polar front jet stream, frequent changes in pressure and unsettled weather ar ...
with warmer and wetter winters and hotter and drier summers.
Spanish plumes will continue but bring more intense weather conditions such as hotter summer weather and summer
thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are some ...
s.
By 2014, the United Kingdom's seven warmest and 4 out of its 5 wettest years had occurred between the years of 2000–2014. Higher temperatures increase evaporation and consequently rainfall. In 2014, England recorded its wettest winter in over 250 years with
widespread flooding.
In parts of the south east of the UK, the temperature in the hottest days of the year increased by 1 °C per decade in the years 1960 - 2019. The
highest ever recorded temperature in the United Kingdom was recorded in
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...
in
Coningsby
Coningsby is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district in Lincolnshire, England, it is situated on the A153 road, adjoining Tattershall on its western side, 13 miles (22 km) north west of Boston and 8 miles (13 km) so ...
at 40.3 °C. In 2020, the chances of reaching a temperature above 40 °C were low, but they are 10 times higher than in a climate without human impact. In modest emissions scenario, by the end of the century, it will happen every 15 years and in high emissions scenario every 3 – 4 years. Summers with temperatures above 35 °C occur in the UK every 5 years, but will occur almost every other year in the high emission scenario by 2100.
According to the
Met Office, figures for December 2013 and January 2014 combined were the wettest since records began in 1910.
Extreme weather events
The
Met Office outlines that more frequent and intense
extreme weather
Extreme weather or extreme climate events includes unexpected, unusual, severe, or unseasonal weather; weather at the extremes of the historical distribution—the range that has been seen in the past. Often, extreme events are based on a loca ...
events will affect the UK due to climate change.
Floods
Due to increased rainfall from warmer and wetter winters, increased
flood
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...
ing is expected.
An interactive map from the UK government shows areas at risk of flooding.
Heat waves
Heat wave
A heat wave, or heatwave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries. While definitions vary, a heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the ...
s are becoming more intense and more likely in the UK due to climate change.
Of the
UK's top ten hottest days on record, nine have been recorded between 1990 and 2022. The
2022 heatwave resulted in the first code red extreme heat warning in the country, instigating a declaration of national emergency, and causing wildfires and widespread infrastructure damage.
Sea level rise
Between 1900 and 2022, the UK's
sea level rose by . The rate of rise more than doubled between the early 20th and early 21st century to a rate of 3-5.2 millimetres per year.
By 2050, it is predicted that around a third of
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
's coast will be impacted, leading to almost 200,000 homes needing to be abandoned. The most affected regions will be the
South West,
North West
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
and
East Anglia.
Water and drought
Droughts in the United Kingdom are expected to become more severe. Water quality in rivers and lakes may decline due to higher temperatures, reduced river flows and increased
algal bloom
An algal bloom or algae bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in freshwater or marine water systems. It is often recognized by the discoloration in the water from the algae's pigments. The term ''algae'' encompass ...
s in summer, and increased river flows in winter.
Impacts on ecosystems
Warming temperatures are impacting
wildlife
Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted ...
and
plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...
life. Some
species' ranges are shifting north, and Scottish
alpine plants have declined.
With
spring coming earlier each year, many plant and animal species are unable to adapt quickly enough.
Birds are impacted by climate change, with warm weather species like
cattle egret
The cattle egret (''Bubulcus ibis'') is a cosmopolitan species of heron (family Ardeidae) found in the tropics, subtropics, and warm-temperate zones. It is the only member of the monotypic genus ''Bubulcus'', although some authorities regard ...
s and
purple herons observed breeding in the UK for the first time in the 2010s, while cold-adapted birds like
lapwings
Lapwings (subfamily Vanellinae) are any of various ground-nesting birds (family Charadriidae) akin to plovers and dotterels. They range from in length, and are noted for their slow, irregular wingbeats in flight and a shrill, wailing cry. A gro ...
have declined.
More regular
droughts
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
also have cumulative implications for many British species and ecosystems.
For example, in 2022,
Ouse Washes
Ouse Washes is a linear biological Site of Special Scientific Interest stretching from near St Ives in Cambridgeshire to Downham Market in Norfolk. It is also a Ramsar internationally important wetland site, a Special Protection Area for bird ...
wetlands was at risk of drying out.
Climate change will also impact
marine life around the British Isles, including some commercially valuable fish species. The distributions of many fish species are expected to shift, with cold adapted species declining and warm adapted species becoming established.
Impacts on people
Economic impacts
According to the Government, the number of households in flood risk will be up to 970,000 homes in the 2020s, up from around 370,000 in January 2012. The effects of flooding and managing flood risk cost the country about £2.2bn a year, compared with the less than £1bn spent on flood protection and management.
UK agriculture is also being impacted by drought and weather changes.
In 2020
PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounti ...
estimate that
Storm Dennis
Storm Dennis was a European windstorm which, in February 2020, became one of the most intense extratropical cyclones ever recorded, reaching a minimum central pressure of . The thirteenth named storm of the 2019–20 European windstorm season, D ...
damage to homes, businesses and cars could be between £175m and £225m and
Storm Ciara
Storm Ciara was a powerful and long-lived extratropical cyclone that was the first of a pair of European windstorms to affect the United Kingdom and Ireland at peak intensity less than a week apart in early February 2020, followed by Storm Denn ...
cost up to £200m.
Friends of the Earth criticised British government of the intended cuts to
flood defence spending. The protection against increasing flood risk as a result of climate change requires rising investment. In 2009, the
Environment Agency calculated that the UK needs to be spending £20m more compared to 2010 to 2011 as the baseline, each and every year out to 2035, just to keep pace with climate change.
The British government and the economist
Nicholas Stern published the
Stern Review
The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change is a 700-page report released for the Government of the United Kingdom on 30 October 2006 by economist Nicholas Stern, chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environm ...
on the Economics of Climate Change in 2006. The report states that climate change is the greatest and widest-ranging
market failure
In neoclassical economics, market failure is a situation in which the allocation of goods and services by a free market is not Pareto efficient, often leading to a net loss of economic value. Market failures can be viewed as scenarios where indi ...
ever seen, presenting a unique challenge for economics. The Review provides prescriptions including
environmental taxes to minimise economic and social disruptions. The Stern Review's main conclusion is that the benefits of strong, early action on climate change far outweigh the costs of not acting.
The Review points to the potential
impact of climate change on water resources, food production, health, and the environment. According to the Review, without action, the overall costs of climate change will be equivalent to losing at least 5% of global gross domestic product (GDP) each year, now and forever. Including a wider range of risks and impacts could increase this to 20% of GDP or more. The review leads to a simple conclusion: the benefits of strong, early action considerably outweigh the costs.
Health impacts
Climate change has significant implications for
health
Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...
,
healthcare and
health inequality in the UK. The
National Health Service
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
describes climate change as a "health emergency", citing the health impacts of floods, storms and heat waves, as well as the increased risk of
infectious diseases such as
tick-borne encephalitis and
vibriosis.
It also suggests reduction of greenhouse gas emissions would also reduce deaths from
air pollution
Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different typ ...
.
Climate change had made
heat wave
A heat wave, or heatwave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries. While definitions vary, a heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the ...
s 30 times more likely in the UK and 3,400 people died from them in the years 2016 -
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
. Climate change-driven heatwaves in other countries important for
crop production may also be more severe, which will have an indirect impact on the UK. UK heat waves have implications for
human health and can drive
excess deaths, particularly among the elderly.
Mitigation and adaptation
Mitigation
In 2019, Prime Minister
Theresa May
Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cabi ...
announced the UK would strive to reach
carbon neutrality
Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the "p ...
by 2050, making the country the first major economy to do so.
Prime Minister
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...
announced in 2020 that UK will set a target of 68% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2030 and include this target in its
commitments in the
Paris Agreement.
Calculations in 2021 indicated that, for giving the world a 50% chance of avoiding a temperature rise of 2 degrees or more, the United Kingdom should increase its climate commitments by 17%.
For a 95% chance, it should increase the commitments by 58%. For giving a 50% chance of staying below 1.5 degrees, the United Kingdom should increase its commitments by 97%.
Energy
Although not motivated by environmental concerns, under
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
, the
UK's coal industry was reduced, with subsidies cut and the coal miner's union weakened following a
miners' strike.
In 2015, the government announced that all remaining
coal-fired power stations would be closed by 2025. In 2021, it brought forward its
coal phase-out
Coal phase-out is an environmental policy intended to stop using the combustion of coal in coal-burning power plants, and is part of fossil fuel phase-out. Coal is the most carbon-intensive fossil fuel, therefore phasing it out is critical ...
target to 2024.
Electric vehicles
Policies and legislation
The
Climate Change Programme was launched in November 2000 by the British government in response to its commitment agreed at the
1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.
There is in place national legislation, international agreements and the
EU directives. The EU
directive 2001/77/EC promotes
renewable energy in the electricity production.
The
Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which aims to boost the number of heat and electricity micro-generation installations in the United Kingdom, so helping to cut carbon emissions and reduce fuel poverty.
The
Climate Change Act 2008
The Climate Change Act 2008 (c 27) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act makes it the duty of the Secretary of State to ensure that the net UK carbon account for all six Kyoto greenhouse gases for the year 2050 is at ...
makes it the duty of the Secretary of State to ensure that the net UK carbon account for all six
Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...
greenhouse gases for the year 2050 is at least 80% lower than the 1990 baseline. It also created the independent
Climate Change Committee
The Climate Change Committee (CCC), originally named the Committee on Climate Change, is an independent non-departmental public body, formed under the Climate Change Act (2008) to advise the United Kingdom and devolved Governments and Parliament ...
to advise the government on policies to reach its goals. The Act made the UK the first country to legally mandate reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
In May 2019, Parliament approved a motion declaring a
national climate change emergency. This does not legally compel the government to act, however.
The
Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill
The Climate and Ecology Bill, formerly promoted under the name Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill, is a private member's bill before the Parliament of the United Kingdom aimed at tackling the climate crisis and environmental disaster.
Fir ...
was tabled as an
early day motion
In the Westminster parliamentary system, an early day motion (EDM) is a motion, expressed as a single sentence, tabled by members of Parliament that formally calls for debate "on an early day". In practice, they are rarely debated in the House a ...
on 2 September 2020 and received its
first reading
A reading of a bill is a stage of debate on the bill held by a general body of a legislature.
In the Westminster system, developed in the United Kingdom, there are generally three readings of a bill as it passes through the stages of becoming, ...
the same day.
The
Health and Care Act 2022 includes a target of carbon neutrality for the
National Health Service
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
by 2040, and an 80% reduction in emissions by 2028 to 2032.
Adaptation
The UK's
National Adaptation Programme seeks to create a "climate-ready society" and expects individual households to adapt to climate change. A systematic review in
''Climatic Change'' concluded many households in the UK struggled to achieve long-term adaptive capacity. Increased flood risk also has implications for the UK's fully privatised
insurance
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...
sector and relevant governance of it. The
Bank of England has outlined a policy of maintaining financial stability amid climate change impacts on the UK.
The town of
Happisburgh
Happisburgh () is a village civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is on the coast, to the east of a north–south road, the B1159 from Bacton on the coast to Stalham. It is a nucleated village. The nearest substantial to ...
, where homes have began being affected by
coastal erosion
Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landwa ...
and sea level rise, is the location of a "Pathfinder" project where owners of homes about to fall into the sea were offered market prices to
relocate inland.
The Wildlife Trusts
The Wildlife Trusts, the trading name of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts, is an organisation made up of 46 local Wildlife Trusts in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and Alderney. The Wildlife Trusts, between them, look after more than 2 ...
have suggested
reintroduction of
Eurasian beaver
The Eurasian beaver (''Castor fiber'') or European beaver is a beaver species that was once widespread in Eurasia, but was hunted to near-extinction for both its fur and castoreum. At the turn of the 20th century, only about 1,200 beavers survi ...
s improves resilience of British rivers and wetlands to droughts, create carbon sinks and prevent flooding.
International cooperation
Since the
premiership of Tony Blair
Tony Blair's term as the prime minister of the United Kingdom began on 2 May 1997 when he accepted an invitation of Queen Elizabeth II to form a government, succeeding John Major of the Conservative Party, and ended on 27 June 2007 upon his res ...
, climate change has been a high priority issue in the
UK's foreign policy.
The UK has raised the issue at meetings of international bodies of which it is a member, including the
G8 and
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
.
The UK was also influential on the climate change policy of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
during
its membership.
British diplomats have been involved in the negotiation of international agreements in
United Nations summits.
Ahead of the
2009 conference while talks had been stalling, prime minister
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...
launched a manifesto calling for an international agreement that would bring investment into climate change adaptation in developing countries. The UK hosted the
2021 UN Climate Change Conference in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, during which the
Glasgow Climate Pact was negotiated and agreed. In the lead-up to the conference,
Richard Moore said the
Secret Intelligence Service had begun monitoring the activities of major polluters to ensure they adhere to their commitments on mitigation and the
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreig ...
said it would put £290m towards climate change initiatives in developing countries.
Society and culture
Public opinion
By 2021,
YouGov
YouGov is a British international Internet-based market research and data analytics firm, headquartered in the UK, with operations in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. In 2007, it acquired US company Polimetrix, and sinc ...
recorded that 72% of Britons believe that climate change is caused by human activity, which had increased from 49% in 2013. According to the
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament.
Overview
The ONS is responsible for t ...
, as of October 2021, 75% of British adults said that they either very or somewhat worried about climate change, whilst 19% were neither worried or unworried. British women were more likely than men to be worried about the impact of climate change, as were younger compared to older age groups.
Politics
In 1989,
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
made two speeches that are considered among the earliest statements by a world leader on climate change.
Climate change has been discussed by members of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
; in 2019,
Carbon Brief
Carbon Brief is a UK-based website specialising in the science and policy of climate change. It has won awards for investigative journalism and data visualisation. Leo Hickman is the director and editor for Carbon Brief.
Founding
Carbon Brief ...
analysed mention of climate change in the
UK parliamentary record from
Hansard
''Hansard'' is the traditional name of the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official prin ...
. It found that mention of the "
greenhouse effect
The greenhouse effect is a process that occurs when energy from a planet's host star goes through the planet's atmosphere and heats the planet's surface, but greenhouse gases in the atmosphere prevent some of the heat from returning directly ...
" and "global warming" had appeared in British parliamentary records since the 1980s, with the term "climate change" used more since the late 1990s. The first mention was by
Jestyn Philipps in 1969. It concluded that
Labour MPs were the most vocal party on the issue, mentioning climate change 8,463 times, compared to 5,860 by
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
MPs and 2,426 by
Liberal Democrat
Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology.
Active parties
Former parties
See also
*Liberal democracy
*Lib ...
MPs.
Before 2005 and 2006, climate change received little political attention in the UK.
However, between 2006 and 2010, campaigns by environmental
non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...
generated attention towards climate change in
British media, and it became a bipartisan issue in
UK politics
The United Kingdom is a unitary state with devolution that is governed within the framework of a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy in which the monarch, currently Charles III, King of the United Kingdom, is the head ...
.
The
Climate Change Act 2008
The Climate Change Act 2008 (c 27) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act makes it the duty of the Secretary of State to ensure that the net UK carbon account for all six Kyoto greenhouse gases for the year 2050 is at ...
passed with the support of 463 MPs from several political parties, and only 5 against.
Under
David Cameron, the
Conservative Party adopted environmental policies as a means to connect with younger voters, with Cameron's support of the
Big Ask campaign being a critical turning point.
The
Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition maintained political momentum on climate policy, but criticism from the political right later weakened Cameron's international leadership on the issue.
The Conservatives prioritised the issue during the
premiership of Boris Johnson.
Despite shifts in public and political opinion in the 21st century,
climate change denial exists in British politics. The
Global Warming Policy Foundation is a prominent
lobbying
In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...
think tank founded by Conservative MP
Nigel Lawson
Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby, (born 11 March 1932) is a British Conservative Party politician and journalist. He was a Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Blaby from 1974 to 1992, and served in the cabinet of Margaret ...
. Members of the
UK Independence Party
The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...
have been characterised as deniers and have dismissed climate change risks and the party has opposed climate policies, with some claims within its 2013 energy policy document found to be based on documents from the Global Warming Policy Foundation. The Global Warming Policy Foundation and some members of the Conservative Party shifted to opposing the perceived cost of net zero rather than outright denying the occurrence of climate change in the 2020s.
Activism
A number of lobby groups in the UK focus on climate change including
Friends of the Earth (who ran the
Big Ask Campaign),
Stop Climate Chaos coalition, the
UK Youth Climate Coalition
The UK Youth Climate Coalition (UKYCC) is a non-profit youth organisation in the United Kingdom. It is part of The Climate Coalition in the UK
Formed in 2008, the mission of the organisation is to mobilise and empower young people to take po ...
,
Campaign against Climate Change, and
350.org
350.org is an international environmental organization addressing the climate crisis. Its stated goal is to end the use of fossil fuels and transition to renewable energy by building a global, grassroots movement.
The 350 in the name stands fo ...
.
Environmental direct action has occurred in the UK.
Camps for Climate Action began in 2006 with the
Drax Power Station, until their disbandment in 2011.
School strikes took place from the 2010s, and groups such as
Extinction Rebellion
Extinction Rebellion (abbreviated as XR) is a global environmental movement, with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and the risk o ...
and
Insulate Britain using tactics such as
traffic obstruction
Traffic obstruction is a common tactic used during public protests and demonstrations. The transport users affected by such disruptions are sometimes unsympathetic to the cause.
Legality
Most jurisdictions consider the obstruction of traffic a ...
in protest of climate change issues.
Extinction Rebellion was founded by a group of UK activists in 2018, subsequently expanding to other countries and influencing the global
climate movement
The climate movement is a global social movement focused on pressuring governments and industry to take action (also called "climate action") addressing the causes and impacts of climate change. Environmental non-profit organizations have enga ...
.
In February 2014 during
major flooding the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
said that it will pull its investments from companies that fail to do enough to fight the "great demon" of climate change and ignore the church's theological, moral and social priorities. In 2007, a
London Live Earth concert took place to raise awareness of climate change and in 2019, numerous musicians, record labels and venues in the
British music industry formed environmental pressure group
Music Declares Emergency to demand mitigation.
Media coverage
British
tabloid newspaper
A tabloid is a newspaper with a compact page size smaller than broadsheet. There is no standard size for this newspaper format.
Etymology
The word ''tabloid'' comes from the name given by the London-based pharmaceutical company Burroughs We ...
reporting on climate change between 2000 and 2006 significantly diverged from the
scientific consensus that climate change is driven by human activity. The political leaning of newspapers influenced their likelihood of covering climate change, with the left-leaning ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' paper covering the issue more than the more conservative
''Times'',
''Daily Telegraph'' and ''
Daily Mail'' between 1997 and 2017. The
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
into coverage of climate change, and in 2018 admitted that it had covered climate change "wrong too often" and that it was
into its coverage. Media coverage of the
corresponded to different political viewpoints, particularly whether climate change was mentioned or the severity of the heat wave was downplayed.
have advocated for climate change mitigation.
has expressed concern over the impacts of climate change and called for action on the issue among world leaders, including advocating for a "
-like plan" to address it.
.
under William's patronage.
Environmentalists have recognised their role in the cause, but have been critical of the ecological condition of the
.
before 2050.
(subtitled Implications of a Global Climate Change of 4+ Degrees for People, Ecosystems and the Earth-system), held on 28–30 September 2009 at Oxford, United Kingdom
*