Is the UK decarbonising faster than other countries?published at 14:40 Greenwich Mean Time 1 December 2023

14:40 GMT 1 December 2023

Speaking at the COP28 summit, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “We have got an incredible track record of decarbonising in the UK, faster than any other major economy.”

In 2022, UK greenhouse gas emissions are 48.7% lower than in 1990, external – the benchmark year typically used internationally.

This only refers to emissions within the UK. It doesn’t include emissions from the manufacture of products imported into the UK, for example.

Based on these figures, it is true that the UK has reduced its emissions faster than all other major economies, external since 1990.

Germany, which saw the second-largest reduction, has cut its emissions by about 40% since 1990, while France and Italy have cut theirs by around a quarter. Emissions by the US and Japan have only fallen slightly, while China’s and India’s have both increased hugely.

It’s worth noting that, in the 1990s, many carbon-intensive industries like coal were already on a downward trend in the UK. This is in contrast to countries like China, which were still developing their economies, and so are not expected to make emissions cuts as rapidly.

And Germany has reduced its emissions, external at a faster rate than the UK since 2016 - the year after the key international Paris climate agreement was signed.

Rishi Sunak is next questioned by reporters, with the BBC's Vicki Young asking if the UK has "done its bit for now" and can leave future progress on tackling emissions up to others.

Sunak responds by saying the UK has done more than others up until now and will continue doing that.

"We already have carbon budgets that we've met and we're on track to meet the next one as well," he says.

His finishes by saying we can meet targets that are more ambitious than other countries but can do so in a pragmatic way that saves families money.

Image source, .

Sunak is asked by Sky News whether he can say that nobody's recently raised concerns about his recent changes to green policies.

Key among the changes announced in September was a five-year delay in the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars.

"Hand on heart, 100%, no," Sunak responds. "Not a single leader that I've spoken to today has spoken about that." The UK PM states that this is because the targets of other countries are "less ambitious".

He goes on to cite the phase-out of petrol vehicles, acknowledging that he pushed back the UK's target date from 2030 to 2035. But he says this brings the country in line with "basically every country in the world".

Sunak continues by announcing a deal between Masdar and RWE which includes a commitment to jointly invest £11bn ($13.9bn) in the UK's new wind farm at Dogger Bank - which he says will be the largest in the world.

"This is a huge boost for UK renewables, creating more jobs, helping to power three million homes and increasing our energy security," he says.

Rishi Sunak announces £1.6bn ($2bn) in UK funding for climate projects, including renewable energy, green innovation and forests - "delivering on the historic Glasgow deal to end deforestation".

"We can't stop climate change without nature," he says.

The pledge is in addition to £1.6bn announced at the G20 summit for the Green Climate Fund.

He says the "genius of the city of London" will also be leveraged to delver "billions more in private finance".

The UK is leading by example and others need to follow, he says.

"We're absolutely committed to our net zero targets. We've already decarbonised faster than any other major economy. Our emissions are down 48% since 1990, compared to limited cuts from others and a 300% increase from China," he says.

Sunak has faced criticism following a major overhaul of some green policies, which included a 50% increase in cash incentives to replace gas boilers and delay in the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is speaking at a press conference at COP28 now - we'll bring you any key lines on this page.

Image source, UN PRESS OFFICE

It's lunchtime here in the UK, and after 17:20 in the UAE on day two of COP28. Here's what has happened today so far:

• The day began with the an address from UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who announced a $30bn (£23.7bn) fund for "global climate solutions"
• His late father and the first president of the UAE Sheikh Zayed bin Nahyan made an appearance via a 3D hologram
• UN chief Antonio Guterres warned that "Earth's vital signs are failing", and urged a faster transition to renewable energy
• The UK's King Charles III laid out five practical questions the summit must answer and asserted that "the Earth does not belong to us, we belong to the Earth"
• World leaders have been addressing the summit, including India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the EU's Ursula von der Leyen and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
• Meanwhile, the COP28 president announced a new major declaration on the future of food which some 134 countries have signed up to, including major food producers and consumers
• COP28 - the 28th annual United Nations (UN) climate meeting where governments discuss how to limit and prepare for future climate change - is taking place in Dubai until 12 December

Georgina Rannard
Climate reporter at COP28

Pavel Partha works with more than 200,000 farmers in Bangladesh, as director of the Bangladesh Research Center for Indigenous Knowledge.

Many of those grow a food almost half of us rely on - rice (it feeds more than 3.5 billion people).

Holding a map of his low-lying home, he points to regions where a combination of flooding and drought is turfing farmers from their land and ruining crops.

Three storms this year alone have flooded fields with salty water or destroyed yields.

It’s high-time that leaders address how climate change affects food production, he told me.

And Esther Penunian, who leads the Asian Farmers’ Association representing 13 million farmer family, told me the declaration is a “major milestone” but governments must make sure the promises are turned into real policies.

But she says more climate finance is needed to help small farmers, who produce a third of the world’s food.

Georgina Rannard
Climate reporter at COP28

While the leaders' speeches at COP continue, let's return now to the new major declaration on the future of food announced a little earlier.

UN Secretary of State Antony Blinken has just confirmed the US has signed up this declaration.

It joins 133 other nations who promise to include the greenhouse gas emissions (those warming gases that warm the atmosphere) from food and agriculture in their national plans to tackle climate change.

In UN jargon, those plans are called Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs. Countries promised to write these in 2015 and must report on progress to the UN.

The signed-up nations must now assess how growing, transporting and eating food contributes to their national carbon footprint. They’ll be asked to report back next year.

But it is unlikely to affect how much meat we eat or the price of food - something almost everyone globally is conscious of as the cost of living increases.

Instead, if it works, it should help us tackle emissions that come from what we all do - eat.

Malu Cursino
Live reporter, at COP28

Image source, Reuters

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been speaking for the second time here in Dubai.

"We have a collective problem of lack of ambition," Lula tells the summit, saying that current national development goals (NDCs) "are not enough".

Lula adds that Brazil has since adapted its goals aiming to reach climate neutrality by 2050 and its commitments, he says, are far more ambitious than those of more developed nations.

He cites reduced deforestation levels, after the rate of deforestation in Brazil's Amazon dropped to its lowest in six years, space agency data released in August suggested.

But, he cautiously reminds world leaders that "the most vulnerable cannot have to choose between to fight climate change and to fight poverty".

Last month, the country recorded its hottest ever temperature amid a stifling heatwave attributed to the El Niño phenomenon and climate change.

As expected with events like this, security has been tight and we've been hearing the speeches outside the plenary, but I am hoping to spot the president a little later here at Expo City. Let's see how that pans out.

Image source, COP28

"At this COP we will set a decisive step forward to protect the most vulnerable citizens worldwide," Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, tells the summit.

She says that this conference is about ambition, targets and finance.

"Global emissions must peak by 2025," she says, as she urges world leaders to phase out fossil fuels and reduce methane emissions.

She says the EU is "on track to overshoot our target for 2030" and will contribute to a loss and damage fund to which $270m (£213m) has been pledged so far.

Image source, Reuters

We're now hearing from Kenyan President William Ruto, who says the climate crisis "must never be seen as a distant threat, it's here now indiscriminately".

Ruto says an investment gap in renewable energy in Africa has led to more than 600 million people being are deprived of energy services on the continent, which impacts healthcare and education, as well as emergency services.

Ignoring Africa's developmental needs "is no longer a tenable proposition," he adds.

Ruto has been vocal in trying to deal with the impact of climate change in Kenya and Africa and in September, he hosted the first ever Africa Climate Summit in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, which ended in a joint declaration demanding that major polluters commit more resources to help poorer nations.

He wants Kenya to plant 15 billion trees in 10 years - but some environmentalists have called him a hypocrite for championing tree planting while failing to tame illegal logging in public forests.

Image source, COP28

Next up is King Tupou VI of the Pacific island nation of Tonga, who expressed his disappointment at the slow progress on climate issues over the past decades.

He says "it's painful for people of the small island developing states to see that COP28 may not be the milestone moment we've been hoping for because of our slow progress on the Paris Agreement".

“The far-reaching impacts of climate change and disasters of human security and mobility displaces more than 50,000 pacific people every year," he adds.

Islands scattered across the Pacific Ocean are facing rising sea levels and more frequent storms. Last year, the Pacific Islands Forum - made up of 14 countries including Tonga - declared a climate emergency in the region for the first time.

King Tupou urged world leaders to help ensure COP28 is a success, and concluded: "let us put nature, people, lives and livelihoods at the heart of climate action”.

Image source, Getty Images

The leaders' speeches are continuing in Dubai, with Jordan's King Abdullah telling COP that war makes threats of water and food scarcity more severe.

He says delegates must recognise "even more than ever that we cannot talk about climate change in isolation from the humanitarian tragedies unfolding around us".

"In a region already on the front lines of climate change, the massive destruction of war makes these environmental threats of water scarcity and food insecurity even more severe," he says, referencing the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict.

It comes after the seven-day temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas expired today, with the restart in hostilities is likely to worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, amid severe shortages of food, water and medicine and the critical state of the local health system.

Image source, COP28

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been addressing the gathering of world leaders at COP28, where he praised his country's efforts to meet its climate targets.

He said India “has presented a model of development to the world of striking a great balance between ecology and economy".

“Despite the fact that India is home to 17% of the world’s population, our share of global carbon emissions is even less than 4%,” he tells delegates. India remains ambitious in its climate targets, he adds, and will increase the share of non-fossil fuels in its economy to 50%, and aims to reach its net zero goal by 2070.

On some of the regions worst-hit by global warming, Modi says: “Over the past century, a small section of humanity has indiscriminately exploited nature. However, all of humanity is paying the price for this – especially people living in the global south."

Modi also proposed India as the host COP33 in 2028, saying his country "is committed to UN Framework for Climate Change".

Georgina Rannard
Climate reporter at COP28

A new major food promise has just been announced at COP28 in Dubai, but why is this so important?

Well, climate change is already affecting how much food is made globally, as extreme weather makes farming less predictable - a single flood or storm can wipe out huge farms.

But what we eat also contributes a lot to the climate problem - around a third of the world’s emissions of warming gases that heat the planet.

“The declaration sends a powerful signal to the nations of the world that we can only keep the 1.5C goal in sight if we act fast to shift the global food system in the direction of greater sustainability and resilience,” Edward Davey, head of the World Resources Institute UK programme, told me.

He says it affects, “how we farm, how we look after the soil, and how how we reduce food loss and waste”.

We’re looking at the text now and will bring you more - including on that important question - does it affect how much meat we eat?

Georgina Rannard
Climate reporter at COP28

The COP28 president has just announced a new major declaration on the future of food.

It’s a bit of a mouthful - ahem - officially called the Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action.

It's basically about what we grow and what we eat - a crucial part of tackling climate change.

It’s the first ever leaders' declaration on food at one of these COP climate summits - normally fossil fuels and climate finance get most attention.

Some 134 countries have signed up, including major food producers and consumers. That includes the US, UK, Brazil, and China - and covers 70% of the world’s land.

A little earlier, King Charles III addressed COP28 and told world leaders "we are carrying out a vast, frightening experiment of changing every ecological condition all at once".

He adds that "the Earth does not belong to us. We belong to the Earth." Watch some of his speech below:

Emma Calder
Reporting from COP28

Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and climate philanthropist, reiterates that he has given up on the aim of keeping global temperatures from rising by 1.5C.

It might not sound like much, but scientists say that we need to avoid average global temperatures rising by 1.5C compared to pre-industrial times to stave off the worst impacts of climate change.

But, speaking to the BBC, Gates went on to say that through the actions of governments we have avoided the extreme scenarios of a 4C rise.

Gates's words come despite the UN saying it is still possible for the world to reduce emissions to prevent temperature rising above 1.5C.

The philanthropist reflects the wider concern among the climate community that it may be too late to still meet this crucial threshold, set out in the Paris Agreement in 2015.

King Charles emphasises 'harmony' of natural systempublished at 09:43 Greenwich Mean Time 1 December 2023

09:43 GMT 1 December 2023

Justin Rowlatt
Climate editor, at COP28

Image source, PA Media

Another thought struck me from the King’s speech a little while ago: At the heart of it all was the idea of harmony and the interconnectedness of the “sacred” natural system.

It's no exaggeration to call this idea his central guiding belief.

The harmonious nature of all life on Earth is the subject of the book he is most proud of. Its title, you won’t be surprised to hear, is "Harmony".

And if you want a precis, he gave a very concise one here in Dubai.

He talked about how indigenous people teach us that we are all connected. “Not only as human beings”, he told the world leaders, “but with all living things and all that sustains life.”

We are all part of this "grand" natural system, he continued.

And he finished with a warning to us all: “The Earth does not belong to us, we belong to the Earth.”

Sameer Hashmi
Middle East business correspondent, reporting from Dubai

Image source, COP28

This has been an interesting start to COP28. After the UAE president - Mohamed Bin Zayed's opening speech, his father and the first president of the UAE - Sheikh Zayed bin Nahyan appeared on stage to give an address.

The organisers have used 3D-hologram technology to bring to life the deceased Sheikh Zayed, the founding father of the UAE, on stage at the opening of the climate summit.

This is not the first time the UAE has used a hologram to project Sheikh Zayed on stage.

In 2018, a team of computer graphic artists and 3D experts spent 400 hours researching educational speeches made by the late Sheikh Zayed for a four-minute video that was aired at an event that replicated his hand gestures and head movements.