A pretty major milestone has been achieved: Britain has become the first major country to halve its carbon emissions. The rapid pace of UK environmental progress means that our output is now below 319 million tonnes – half the 652 million tonnes at our 1970 peak. This is in spite of Britain now having a far larger population and economy than 50 years ago.

Had things gone the other way – if our carbon emissions had doubled, for example – this would be front page news. But I’m not sure you can expect to read about this good news anywhere other than The Spectator. There are no campaign groups tracking it, no politicians likely to trumpet it. The info is tracked by the Global Carbon Project and is one of many metrics collected in the energy section of The Spectator data hub. Here it is, showing (obviously) a drop during the lockdowns, but by 2022 showing a drop driven by efficiencies that takes our emissions lower in a normal year than they were when the economy was being shut down.

QOSHE - UK becomes first G20 country to halve its carbon emissions - Fraser Nelson
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UK becomes first G20 country to halve its carbon emissions

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26.12.2023

A pretty major milestone has been achieved: Britain has become the first major country to halve its carbon emissions. The rapid pace of UK environmental progress means that our output is now below 319 million tonnes – half the 652 million tonnes at our........

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