High Court found the Net Zero Strategy unlawful

The English High Court determined in July 2022 that the 2021 Net Zero Strategy was "unlawful" and "inadequate" under the Climate Change Act 2008, ruling that the government should set out more detail on how it aims to meet its carbon budgets and reach net zero¹. The strategy had set out policies and commitments designed to enable the UK to reach net zero by 2050¹.

The UK's net zero target is a 100% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 against a 1990 baseline, made legally binding through the Climate Change Act 2008 (2050 Target Amendment) Order 2019¹. Under the Act, the government must set five-yearly carbon budgets, which are statutory caps on the total greenhouse gas emissions the UK can emit in a five-year period¹. The budgets set so far are:

In response to the judgment, the government updated the policies and commitments in the strategy with the March 2023 Carbon Budget Delivery Plan, which set out how it would meet the emissions reductions required for carbon budgets four to six, spanning 2023 to 2037, equivalent to a 52% reduction from a 1990 baseline¹. A second legal challenge at the High Court in May 2024 found that the revised strategy was unlawful in its assertion that the plans put forward would enable the UK to meet its carbon budgets, and ruled that government needed to prepare a revised plan by 2 May 2025; following the announcement of the general election, this deadline was extended to October 2025¹.

The government published its revised plan, the Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan, on 29 October 2025¹. The Climate Change Committee published its most recent progress report to Parliament on 24 June 2026, saying:

"is not moving fast enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect households and businesses from volatile fossil fuel prices"

The committee said the government should adopt a "more ambitious plan to electrify" the country, noting that slow progress in electrification could make it more likely the UK will miss its emissions reductions targets¹. It concluded that the UK could still hit its emissions reductions targets and remain on track for net zero by 2050, but said there were significant risks that could derail progress without urgent policy action¹. The government has not yet responded to the CCC's progress report, but has said it will publish a new delivery plan setting out plans to achieve the reductions required for the seventh carbon budget¹.

Why it matters for households

The court ruling turned on whether the government had set out enough detail on how it would actually deliver the emissions cuts it had promised, rather than on the target itself. For a household, the practical effect sits in the policies that follow: how electricity is generated, how homes are heated and how transport is powered. The Climate Change Committee's assessment that government is not moving fast enough links slower progress to continued exposure to volatile fossil fuel prices, which feed through to bills¹. Its call for a "more ambitious plan to electrify" points to the pace at which homes and transport shift away from direct fossil fuel use¹. The committee also assessed that risks remained across all sectors, especially for delivering emissions reductions across the sixth carbon budget¹. Scotland has set its own target to become a net zero economy by 2045, while England, Wales and Northern Ireland will reach net zero by 2050¹.

What happens next

The government has said it will publish a new delivery plan setting out how it will meet the emissions reductions required for the seventh carbon budget, which was agreed in both Houses and commits the UK to an 87% reduction from 1990 levels by 2042¹. The government has not yet responded to the CCC's June 2026 progress report¹. The zero emission vehicle mandate is due to be reviewed in 2026¹.

Sources1 cited

1. [](https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9888/CBP-9888.pdf), researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk